June 23, 2025 • 32 mins
Fear of the unknown keeps countless believers anchored in their comfort zones, missing out on the miraculous possibilities that await when we dare to step out in faith. In this compelling episode, Pastors Lee and Jim unpack the powerful story of Jesus walking on water from Matthew 14, revealing how this ancient encounter speaks directly to our modern spiritual challenges.
The journey begins with Jesus demonstrating the vital importance of solitude with God—retreating to pray alone before performing miracles. This intentional practice established a pattern we desperately need in our constantly connected world: finding intimate space with our Creator where distractions fade and transformation happens. As the pastors thoughtfully discuss, there's a quality of communion available in these private moments that simply cannot be replicated elsewhere.
When Peter boldly asks to join Jesus on the turbulent waters, we witness faith's active nature at work. His request wasn't merely intellectual belief but required physical movement—literally stepping out of safety into uncertainty. This courageous response to Christ's invitation challenges us to examine where we might be clinging to security rather than responding to Jesus' call to "come."
The turning point arrives when Peter shifts his focus from Jesus to the surrounding storm. His immediate cry for rescue models both vulnerability and wisdom in moments of failure. Unlike many who struggle silently with their spiritual doubts and fears, Peter acknowledged his weakness and called out for help—a powerful reminder that even our falls can become pathways to deeper relationship with Christ.
Perhaps most compelling is the disciples' response after witnessing Jesus calm the storm—they worshiped. This pattern of crisis, divine intervention, and responsive worship should characterize our own spiritual journeys. Too often we desperately pray during difficulties but neglect to celebrate God's faithfulness when peace returns.
Whatever storm you're facing today—whether in relationships, health, finances, or faith—this episode offers profound encouragement that Jesus stands ready to reach through the chaos, asking, "Are you okay?" and extending His hand to lift you up.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Beyond Sunday, the podcast that takes
you deeper into the Word of Godthroughout your week with your
hosts, pastors Lee and Jim.
It's time to inspire, upliftand dig deeper.
Beyond Sunday starts now.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Hey, what's going on everybody?
This is Pastor Lee and, asalways, I'm sitting here in
studio at the table with my good, dear brother in the Lord,
pastor Jim, and we are thepastors of Christ Family
Outreach Church and we just wantto take a moment to say thank
you.
Thank you so much forfaithfully tuning in and
listening to these podcastepisodes of Beyond Sunday.
(00:42):
We truly, truly do appreciateeach one of you.
Pastor Jim, how are you doing?
Speaker 1 (00:47):
my brother man doing so good.
To be honest with you, I'mstill reeling from last week's
episode with Brother Frankietalking about worship, the
importance of worship, howworship honors the Father, how
our lives should be an act ofworship in everything that we do
say, and I just absolutely amreeling from that episode.
It so blessed me.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeah, the Lord used it to fill my cup this week.
I was just excited all week,you know, after the episode, but
I know you are as well.
I'm looking forward to this onetoday as well.
Today we're going to be digginginto Matthew, chapter 14.
So, if you got your Bibles, goahead and get the pages turning
to the text Matthew 14, 22through 23.
(01:30):
And there's so much to learn,there's so much happening and
going on in this passage thattoday we want to take a deep
dive into God's truth and seehow it can impact our lives
right now in 2025.
So, matthew, chapter 14, verses22 through 23,.
Let's get going in the textImmediately.
He made the disciples get intothe boat and go before him to
(01:53):
the other side while hedismissed the crowds.
And after he had dismissed thecrowds, he, jesus, he went up on
the mountain by himself to pray.
When evening came, he was therealone.
So I just want to stop rightthere, pastor Jim, if we can,
for a moment.
The first thing I would like topoint out because, for the
viewers that do not yet knowthis, we're building up to the
(02:15):
verse where it talks about Peterwalking on the water, but I
just want to stop right here, atverse 23, because it says that
Jesus dismissed the crowds.
He goes up onto the mountain byhimself to pray and when
evening comes, jesus is therealone.
Now we know the Father is withhim, but as far as people go
right, jesus is there alone.
So the first thing I want topoint out here is that Jesus got
(02:38):
by himself to pray.
Many times in Scripture we findJesus purposefully being alone.
Times in Scripture we findJesus purposefully being alone.
He's purposefully retreating toquiet places by himself to pray
, just all by himself, right?
So, pastor Jim, what do youfeel?
The benefits for being alonewhile praying are for us today
as followers of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Well, I think the word intimacy comes to mind.
We're called to have a deeprelationship with God and I
think and maybe this is justtrue for me, but it could be or
should be for everybody, Ibelieve.
But you know, sometimes inprayer and sometimes when we're
around other people to our leftand to our right I don't want to
say that we're not authentic,because absolutely I believe
(03:20):
that we're authentic, butthere's a difference between me
praying in a corporate setting.
There's difference between myrelationship with the Lord in a
corporate setting versus mybedroom floor or my closet or
wherever I am alone in the.
You know whether that could bemy vehicle.
There's an intimacy to beingwith the Lord by myself, and
(03:42):
then, more than that, you know,the distractions get cut down.
I don't have to worry aboutwhat maybe somebody else is
thinking about my prayer, andI'm not saying that that's
something that I'm strugglingwith, but I certainly could
imagine that being a strugglefor people.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Yeah, I think that when we are in a corporate
setting, sometimes our mind canwander a bit, especially while
other people are praying.
And prayer is a discipline,right, like we have to be
disciplined in honing in andfocusing and remaining in tune
with the Spirit while otherpeople are praying, so that our
mind it's like we have to trainour mind and our heart not to
(04:21):
wander off.
Right, so it is something to beperfected, it is a discipline,
it is a practice, and I thinkthat that's another benefit of
us as followers of Christ beingalone so that we can hone in on
that discipline, so that we canpractice that, so that we can
work on perfecting our mind notbeing easily interrupted or
swayed.
Right, so that when we get intocorporate settings, we can just
(04:43):
be like a fine-tuned prayingmachine right, dialed up, dialed
in, no interruptions.
Even if there's potentialinterruptions in a room,
nothing's going to bedistracting us.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Yeah, jesus here to me prioritizes prayer.
Okay, and really that reflectson even though he's God in flesh
, he still has a dependence onthe Father, right Even in his
divine authority.
And what he did was when hesent the crowds away and he sent
the disciples away and he wentto pray.
What he was doing was he wassort of setting the stage to go
(05:17):
get strength for a miracle thatwas about to happen, as you
talked and alluded to.
We're getting ready to talkabout how he calmed the storm.
That's Jesus showing completecontrol over the elements,
complete control over God'screation, and so he has this
dual nature, human and divine,and it's evident that believers,
in following like Christ andhis example, we should be
(05:41):
prioritizing prayer for ourstrength and our alignment to
God's will.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Yeah, absolutely Moving on in the text, we're
going to jump right into Matthew14, 24.
But the boat, by this time, wasa long way from the land,
beaten by the waves, for thewind was against them.
And in the fourth watch of thenight, he Jesus.
He came to them, walking on thesea.
But when the disciples saw himwalking on the sea, they were
(06:06):
terrified and said it is a ghost.
And they cried out in fear.
But immediately Jesus spoke tothem saying Take heart, it is.
I Do not be afraid.
You know, pastor Jim.
The point I'd like to make hereis that the disciples were
scared of that which they didnot know.
Is that the disciples werescared of that which they did
not know?
They did not know this wasJesus Christ walking on the
(06:28):
water out towards them.
They thought it was a ghost.
Oftentimes Christians fear whatthey do not know, even when it
comes to godly things, whetherit be letting go and truly
selling out in worship, whetherit be the topic of praying in
tongues, whether it be readingand studying the end times in
(06:53):
the book of Revelation.
Oftentimes people fear thesetypes of things, even though
clearly, pastor Jim, it's in theBible, it's talked about and
taught in the Word of God, butthey stay away from it because
they just don't know about it.
So how do you think Christianstoday who are dealing with
fearing godly things simplybecause they just don't know
about it?
So how do you think Christianstoday who are dealing with
fearing godly things simplybecause they've never
experienced them for themselves,how do you think those types of
Christians can get over thatfear?
(07:13):
Because I think there'sprobably some listeners
listening right now that havesome fear in their lives when it
comes to their walk with God.
They fear some things eventhough they shouldn't, but they
fear some things simply becausethey don't know about those
things.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
I think you have to get into His presence.
You know, the calming of thedisciples happened after Jesus
walked on the water and showedhis presence and you kind of
talk about it a little bit.
You've been preaching throughthe book of Revelation and every
single Sunday morning, beforeyou get ready to preach through
the book of Revelation, youalways say this isn't something
(07:52):
that should be feared.
Yeah Right, this is the victory, this is the truth, this is the
word of God.
We have nothing to fear inRevelation.
Well, in the same way, we havenothing to fear when we're in
the presence of the Lord.
And when we get into thepresence of the Lord, we begin
to kind of more clearly see Hisidentity and who he is and who
we are in Him.
So it's a lot less likely forus to fear circumstances because
(08:15):
we know we're in the presenceof the Father, who knows us, and
we know Him, and it's more of aagain back to that word
intimacy.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Pastor Jim, I can remember a point during a
worship service.
This particular service, theanointing was just heavy, it was
beautiful, and there was anolder sister in Christ.
And there was an older sisterin Christ and she came to the
front of the church.
I didn't know she was coming.
The worship team's playing.
She comes to the front, justdown below there at the altar,
(08:47):
and just right there she doesn'tmake this big announcement that
she's there.
You know, she just comes to thealtar and she just begins to do
this little dance.
And I'm going to tell you, man,I knew it was of the Lord
because, number one, I couldfeel the anointing, you could
feel the presence of the Lord.
But, number two, she wasn'tdoing it as a look at me type
deal, right, and it was so ofthe Lord that people didn't
(09:14):
break out of their own worshipto just sit there and watch this
dance.
That was this woman's time tocome forward and offer this
dance as a gift to the HeavenlyFather.
You know, if she'd have stayedin her chair, there wasn't room
to do what she was doing.
So she gets herself out, shegoes to the altar, right, and
she does this beautiful kind oflike an interpretive dance type
deal and it was just amazing.
Haven't seen it done since then, but it was absolutely a
(09:34):
beautiful, beautiful thing and,again, everybody who was towards
the front of the room who wasblessed enough to be able to
have an opportunity to witnessit, there was no bad feeling
because you could tell that itwas done in humility and for the
love of the Father.
The Spirit never quenched, itjust actually intensified
(09:55):
because the Spirit of God wasedified.
God was pleased.
He accepted this woman'sinterpretive dance as worship
and the entire room justcontinued to worship.
So you are exactly right inwhat you say.
When you're in the presence ofGod, even things that you don't
know about, you can stillreceive peace.
(10:16):
It's as if the Holy Spirit ofGod is saying calm down, calm
down.
This is okay and this is of meand this honors me.
So, even though you don't knowabout it yet, my son or my
daughter, all is well and it isstill okay.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Yeah, god's sovereign , not just in the good stuff,
he's also sovereign over thechaos, you know.
And when Peter's in the boatand the storms are rolling,
they're in chaos, like they'renot just kind of going through
little waves, I mean.
It is a storm brewing and sothey have fear.
And it's Jesus demonstratingthis sovereignty he has over the
(10:54):
chaos, that it's this call thatwe should trust him in all
circumstances.
And so I thought a reallyinteresting thing kind of in
this point is when Jesus says inthe 27th verse, he says, take
heart, it is I, you know, it isI.
In the Greek is actually theterm I am where God calls
(11:19):
himself I am.
So the Greek is ego, I am me.
And when Jesus uses hisauthority over the sea, he uses
this term I am.
And I thought it was reallyneat because it's just another
place in the Bible that kind ofaffirms his identity as God.
Right, jesus is calling himselfGod.
In that moment he says I am, Iam, is here, and that's how he,
(11:44):
when he came onto the scene.
He said I am, and then therewas peace.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
And what a blessing it is that the great I am is not
just in the midst of theirstorm, but he's in the midst of
ours as well.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Yeah, we can trust Jesus's presence and his power
in our trials.
We can overcome our fearthrough faith in him.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Amen.
Let's keep on moving intoscripture.
Matthew, chapter 14.
We're going to look together atthe 28th and the 29th verse.
It says this and Peter answeredhim Lord, if it is you, command
me to come to you on the water.
He said, come.
So Peter got out of the boatand walked on the water and came
to Jesus.
So something I want to thinkabout here many people give
(12:30):
Peter a hard time because hesank.
But before Peter sank, he didwalk on the water.
I've referenced that a lot whenI talk about the life of Peter.
Right, christians give him ahard time.
Oh, he was walk on the water.
I've referenced that a lot whenI talk about the life of Peter.
Right, christians give him ahard time.
Oh, he was looking at the waves, the wind, the sea, the rain.
You know he was payingattention to the chaos, focusing
on the chaos rather than hisfaith in Christ.
But man, let's give the mancredit.
You know he's walked on water.
(12:51):
I don't know if anybody elsehas done it.
You know what I mean.
You know I mean, yeah, that'shuge.
The Bible it does not let usknow how far he walked, but it
does tell us that Peter got outof the boat and walked on the
water and came to Jesus.
That's what it says.
So one thing I love about Peter, pastor Jim, is that he wanted
to get out of the boat.
Like first and foremost let'sgive the brother credit for that
(13:13):
, you know like he wanted to getout of the boat and he trusted
Jesus to make it happen.
So he could get out of the boat.
Lord, bid me come.
Some translations say you knowso.
He doesn't know exactly howdeep this water is, but he does
know it's dangerous waters, hedoes know it's dark, he does
know the storm is raging, hedoes know that the waters are
(13:33):
rough and it's storming.
So how many times in life arewe called, you and I and our
listeners, called to step out infaith and just start walking?
And maybe it's a new businessventure, maybe it's getting
married, maybe it's starting afamily, maybe it's beginning a
new ministry, maybe it'sbuilding a new home, purchasing
a new vehicle, and the list cango on and on.
(13:55):
But are we called to step out?
And if we are, then we got totake that step, even when we
don't know all the details.
Hebrews 11, 6 says it lets usknow that without faith it is
impossible to please God.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Yeah, you know, peter stepping into the water.
It's showing faith's activenature.
So you can't just say, oh well,I have faith for something to
happen and sit in your chair andwait for it to happen.
I mean, there are times forthat.
But this specific situation,peter, is showing us that faith
is active, right and it's alsoenabled by Jesus' power, because
(14:33):
it didn't happen until Jesussaid, okay, come on.
You know.
And then also to that pointwhere you say he just wanted to
get out of the boat.
You could also say he justwanted to get close to Jesus.
He just needed to be close inhis storm to the one who Just
needed that presence.
That's right.
And so he said bid me, come.
And Jesus said, okay, come on.
So his faith, active in nature,was enabled by the power of
(14:54):
Jesus saying let's go.
And Peter's walk on the water.
It proves that faith, whenfocused on Jesus, can achieve
the impossible through hisstrength being Christ's strength
.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
You know what I love about it.
Peter says Lord, bid me, come.
And Jesus says come on, yeah,you know like.
So I just want to tell andencourage our listeners here
today I don't care what you'vegot going on in life.
If you want to accept JesusChrist in your life right now as
Lord and Savior, if you want todraw closer to the presence of
(15:30):
the Lord, jesus every time isgoing to say come, yeah, come.
Why?
Because he loves us.
We are not good enough.
We are not good enough.
So if you're out there feelingtoday like you're not good
enough to get into the presenceof God, can I just say welcome
to the club?
Nobody is.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Yeah, I don't have a blind faith.
I have a faith that's aresponse to the call of Jesus,
because he's calling everysingle person who's unsaved.
He's calling you, and so yourfaith isn't something that's
just blind.
Well, I think I'm going tobelieve this today Now.
It's a response to Jesus' callto come, follow him.
He says follow me.
So you know, we're encouraged,I guess, to say you could take
(16:10):
risks in obedience, right, Onlywhen you're relying on Jesus'
sufficiency.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
Absolutely man, and the fact that all of us are not
worthy enough to come, but thatGod still invites us to come
through Jesus.
What a miracle.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
Yeah, and you know, these are disciples of Jesus too
.
So I think his desire to wantto go be next to Jesus in this
moment shows, you know, the markof true discipleship.
Man, I want to be with myshepherd, I want to be with my
teacher, and so if we look atthe text and the scriptures and
we look at Jesus as the ultimateteacher, rabbi, shepherd, we
(16:48):
should want to be in hispresence, we should want to be
in the Word of God, because he'sthe one teaching us all things
that matter.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Yes, he is teaching us how to live life and he has
given us everything we need,every biblical principle we need
to make life come from a placeof victory, so that we fight
from a place of victory.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Yeah, and so you alluded to it.
We have Peter out on the water.
He's walking on the water, butthen in verse 30, we find out
that well, let's just go to thetext.
It says this but when he sawthe wind he was afraid and
beginning to sink, he cried outLord, save me.
Have we all been there?
You know?
I think Peter's sinking revealshow fragile our faith can be
(17:34):
when we're distracted by fear orwe're distracted by the things
around us.
It kind of underscores ourhuman weakness and the need also
to rely on Jesus for all things.
You know, peter cried Lord,save me, save me.
And that shows that even withour failing faith, we can always
find rescue in Jesus's mercy.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Yeah, what I find interesting here is and we're
all guilty of it at some time oranother is that Peter has gone
back to focusing on what hefirst knew the storm is
dangerous, the wind is blowing,it's raining, the waters are
dark and deep.
I don't want to drown out hereAll completely normal feelings,
(18:16):
if we're being honest with oneanother.
Right, but the problem is thathe let his faith slip.
He let his worry get in frontof his faith and he quickly sees
the results of what happens InLife.
Pastor Jim, we got to rememberthat distractions are just about
everywhere.
They're just about everywhere.
You know, there are going to betimes, mentally, where we take
(18:37):
ourselves back to the beginning.
Okay, those battles are realand they are going to happen.
Storms are going to come, butwe cannot focus on, you know,
those things that we knew backat the beginning.
Our faith has to help usovercome those things.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
Yeah, because our faith falters, though without it
being focused on Christ.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Absolutely, absolutely.
Matthew 14, 31 through 33 saysJesus immediately reached out
his hand and took hold of him,saying to him oh you of little
faith, why did you doubt?
And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased and those in
the boat worshiped him, sayingTruly you are the Son of God.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
Doesn't his immediate cry?
Going back one verse, hisimmediate cry.
It models repentance anddependence.
And so then, when we get tothis next verse and Jesus saves
Peter, it's like this immediate,redemptive story that we're
just reading.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
You know what I mean.
Yeah, yeah, well, let's notforget too, then.
That's a great thing that youpoint out there.
It makes me think of this.
Peter cried out man, I can'ttell you how many people that
I've known in my life that havefailed and they never cried out,
yeah, in the process of failing.
You know people that I wouldsay, let's just say, who
(19:57):
struggle with drinking, and Iand I would give them my
personal number and I said, man,please call me.
Call me if ever you need helpbefore you walk in that store.
Call me.
If ever you're being temptedwhen you're walking through that
store and you do not want topurchase alcohol, call me.
And I'm talking aboutalcoholics with serious problems
, you know.
And then you know, later on theywould confess to me, they'd
(20:19):
talk to me and they'd sharetheir storm and they'd say, man,
I failed this past weekend.
I'm like, yeah, but man, youdidn't call.
I told you to call.
Why did you not call?
And they would say, well, youknow, I didn't want to bother
you, you know, and I think thatthere are Christians like that
that feel like, well, I don'twant to bother God, or I just
don't want to take the timecrying out, or maybe it's some
of this If I cry out, then maybeGod's actually going to snatch
(20:41):
me out of what I enjoy being in.
But here's the thing Petercalled out.
Peter cried out and everysingle one of us need to be able
to cry out to God, and if andwhen we do it from a pure heart.
Just like Jesus reached downand helped Peter up, I promise,
friends, god does the exact samething for us today.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Yeah, and the truth is, it didn't come without a
gentle rebuke.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Jesus says why did you even doubt me?
Yeah, because there has to be alesson, right, there's got to
be a lesson learned.
And he did it withoutcondemning.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
It's not like he said .
I can't believeda-da-da-da-da-da-da, it was
simply.
Why'd you doubt me?
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's so good.
He is their teacher.
You mentioned earlier, youalluded to the fact earlier that
they're his disciples, right,so he is their teacher.
So, even in this incident withPeter, jesus is going to teach
in the moment man.
That's what he does, and can Ijust say that that's what Jesus
still does today, as we walkwith him and are in step with
(21:37):
his spirit, as we walk in theword, as we walk in prayer, as
we walk in worship, as we walkwith other believers, as iron
sharpens iron, jesus is alwaysteaching.
The question is are we alwayslistening?
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Yeah, and I love this next part, when we get into
verse 33.
Well, I'll jump back to 32.
And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
Here's 33.
And this takes me back to lastweek.
And those in the boat, what'dthey do?
They worshiped him.
They worshiped him.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Praise be to God.
Praise be to God they worshipedhim they worshiped him.
Praise be to God.
Praise be to God.
Can you worship during yourstorm and when the storm is over
?
Can you still keep worshipingwhen?
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Jesus calmed the storm.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
it prompted worship it prompted faith and adoration
in Christ.
Yeah, that's so good, because Ithink oftentimes people cry out
to God to calm the storm.
God calms the storm, and thenpeople still don't keep talking
to God.
Yeah, they just keep moving.
(22:38):
They just keep moving.
Yeah, but man, this should be atime of celebration, a time of
praise you know what I mean Atime of thank you, god, that you
have spared me once again timeof thank you, god, that you have
spared me once again.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
And so to your point where people kind of experience
the crying out and the calmingof the storm and then they just
keep moving it and forget to goback to God.
If we do it in even the smallthings, in all of the things in
our life, then we're never goingto forget to praise worship,
even in the storm.
And then, when the stormhappens, giving thanks and
adoration to the one who goteven in the storm, and then,
when the storm happens, givingthanks and adoration to the one
who got us through the storm.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Yeah, I think if I had to quickly recap this
passage of text that we juststudied together, I would have
to say Peter cried out for Godand Jesus responded.
One of the most importantthings to me in my faith walk
right now with this, becauseI've got some things going on in
life right now, some personalthings, some really deep
personal things, and, man, I'mjust crying out every day
(23:36):
morning till dark, I'm justtalking to God off and on
throughout the entire day andI'm just asking God.
I'm crying out to God for helpand I'm expecting him to respond
.
Why?
Because that's what my faithfulfather does, you know.
And here's the thing, man,while I'm waiting for his
response, it doesn't mean thathe's not working.
Just because I don't see theanswer yet, the provision yet
(24:00):
for what I'm praying for, itdoesn't mean that he's not
already making moves.
You know what I mean.
So I've just got to keep cryingout until I see a response.
The issue with Peter was he hadenough faith to get out of the
boat, he had enough faith towalk, but he went back to what
he knew and therefore it causedthe lack of faith.
(24:22):
And I think that, while I'mpraying for these major things
in my life right now, just beingpersonal here, and hopefully
the listeners can be blessed byit and they can relate it to
maybe their own lives I have tomake sure that I do not let the
enemy interfere and interveneand try to put a dent in my
armor.
You know that I've got to keeppressing, I got to keep pushing
(24:45):
and the devil's not going totake me back to where he had me
prior to being saved in Christ.
You know so, even though theremay be a storm around, I've got
to choose not to pay attentionto that.
And then the last thing I grasphere and then I'll throw it
over to you, pastor Jim, is thatthe wind ceased.
And if I was taking notes rightnow, I'd write this one word
down victory, the wind ceased.
(25:07):
Therefore, brother, we havevictory, and I'm just believing
that this storm that I am facingright now in life, that the
wind is going to cease, the windis going to stop, the rain is
going to stop, the waves aregoing to go calm and that water
is going to look like a sea ofglass, amen, and I'm just
believing that I will see theresponse of God.
(25:28):
I'm standing on promises fromGod's word, and I'm believing
that God always keeps hispromise, yeah, amen.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
This last text, really, just in this last verse,
just it teaches me that when weencounter a relationship, or
when we experience Jesus and wewalk and live and act through
his power, it leads, or shouldlead, to worship.
Right, we should be affirminghis divine worth, yeah yeah,
(25:57):
absolutely.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
I think another thing that's worthy just kind of
recapping this episode, I thinkanother thing that's worthy to
think about is where you and Italked a little bit about
Christians being scared of whatthey do not know about and they
could be godly things, things ofthe faith.
I personally know that thatkeeps people out of churches.
You know, I personally know ofpeople that will not go to
(26:21):
certain types of churchesbecause of things or ways that
are practiced there, gifts thatare practiced there.
It's just because it's not thatthose things are not godly
things.
It's just because those peoplewere either A bought up in a
church that didn't practicethose things and maybe they were
taught to be fearful of them,or maybe they're just fearful
because they don't know anythingabout it they haven't educated
(26:42):
themselves on what Scriptureactually says about it or, b
they were never raised or grewup in church and to them it just
looks cultish or likesomebody's crazy.
All the while that Bible thatthey may have in their house or
that Bible that they may betoting around in their car or
taking inside their church,actually talks about the things
that they're scared of.
So it goes back to the pointthat you made about just being
(27:04):
in the presence.
So I just want to encourage ourlisteners.
If there's things that you'reunsure about or there's things
that you think you know about,because maybe you've been taught
about it under a certaindenomination and you're just
totally against it, but yet itis in the Word of God, I would
just encourage you, begin to getin the presence of the Lord,
begin to study it, begin to prayabout it, begin to find
(27:24):
somebody who maybe does operatein those particular types of
gifts and hear their heart, nottheir defense, but hear their
heart and hear from them whatScripture says and how the
Spirit of the Lord works thosetypes of gifts out in their life
.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
Yeah, I think we can all take a little bit of a note
from Peter here and be a littlebit more like Peter that in the
fear of the unknown, in theunwavering or not the unwavering
, but in the waves, we just needto look for Jesus.
Yeah, where we're unsure, lookfor Jesus.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Yeah, man, when you said in the waves, it reminded
me of a time when my parentstook us to the beach.
Yeah, and we used to have backin the day they would have those
really old blow-up rafts.
They were like real tough,maybe, stood like four feet tall
.
They had a little white ropethat went around them.
(28:14):
They were always the same colorred on one side, blue on the
other.
It was almost a canvas materialit was like canvas.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Yeah, like everybody had one, everyone had one.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Those were the boogie boards back then.
You know, there were no boogieboards.
I think some might have beenyellow and blue, but I remember
the red and blue ones.
And the cool thing about it was, brother, when you were done,
(28:43):
when you were done boogieboarding on it, you could get
back up onto the beach and layon it.
You know what I mean, becauseit was tight.
You know right where the wavejust breaks up and starts
pushing you and it kind offizzled out.
And so I go to stand up and ahuge wave just came right behind
me and just crushed me from myback and just blew me over.
Well, I was so not prepared forit.
Again, just a little fella.
(29:03):
And it's funny what you rememberin life.
I remember going down Veryvividly, I remember this.
I remember being knocked.
Life.
I remember going down veryvividly, I remember this.
I remember being knocked down.
I knew it was a wave when ithit me.
I could just tell.
So I know, I know I'm beingknocked down in this wave.
I opened my eyes because thiswave literally is tossing me
around underwater and I rememberopening my eyes and just seeing
sand just going everywhere inthe water and the next thing I
(29:26):
remember is my mom.
Now, I didn't know that my momwas anywhere near me, right?
But I'm sure my mom was notgoing to let me get, but so far
in this great, big, vast ocean,without knowing that you know
where I was.
So I'm tossing, I'm turning, Igot my eyes open, sands
everywhere and then my momreaches through the water.
(29:48):
Now, in the in, in the grandplan of it all, this water is
probably just a few feet deep,you know, a couple of feet deep.
My mom reaches down and shepicks me up and pulls me out of
the water.
And this is what my mom says.
I'll never forget it.
She says are you okay?
And I just remember wiping thewater out of my eyes, getting
(30:09):
sand out of my eyes Uh, you, myeyes.
You know I've got snot comingout of my nose.
You know she went, she got myraft and she comes back and she
says that was a big fall, areyou okay?
And I just share that storybecause maybe there's some
people out there today that Godis trying to reach down.
He so desperately wants toreach down and pick you up.
He's standing right therebeside you, just like my mom was
(30:31):
.
God's standing right therebeside you and, just like my mom
, says wow, that was a big fall.
God recognizes.
You know, god is merciful, he'sgot grace, he's got forgiveness
, he understands that we're inflesh and he understands, pastor
Jim, that we mess up.
And it's like God is justwaiting to reach down, pick us
up and say wow, son, daughter,that was a really big fall.
(30:52):
But then, just like my mom said, you know, it's like God is
saying are you okay?
Are you okay?
Speaker 1 (30:59):
Yeah, like he says, take heart, I am is here, I am
is in the house.
Let's pray Amen.
Father, we are so grateful foryour presence.
I am so thankful that, even inthe midst of our storms, you are
there to reach down and ask areyou okay, father?
I pray that this word wouldbless somebody who may be going
(31:21):
through a storm.
Yes, and, father, that theywould be reminded to refocus
whatever they have going on intheir life back to you In the
middle of the storm, Father,would they refocus and look for
you in the middle of it.
And, father, that you would beright there to remind them.
And would the Holy Spirit justgently remind them that they are
a child of you.
And, father, you would notleave or forsake them.
(31:43):
And, father, when we rely onyou and when our faith is put in
you, we can see and do themiraculous, because that is what
your word says.
In Jesus' name, amen.
Welcome to Beyond Sunday, the podcast that takes
you deeper into the Word of Godthroughout your week with your
hosts, pastors Lee and Jim.
It's time to inspire, upliftand dig deeper.
Beyond Sunday starts now.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Hey, what's going on everybody?
This is Pastor Lee and, asalways, I'm sitting here in
studio at the table with my good, dear brother in the Lord,
pastor Jim, and we are thepastors of Christ Family
Outreach Church and we just wantto take a moment to say thank
you.
Thank you so much forfaithfully tuning in and
listening to these podcastepisodes of Beyond Sunday.
(00:42):
We truly, truly do appreciateeach one of you.
Pastor Jim, how are you doing?
Speaker 1 (00:47):
my brother man doing so good.
To be honest with you, I'mstill reeling from last week's
episode with Brother Frankietalking about worship, the
importance of worship, howworship honors the Father, how
our lives should be an act ofworship in everything that we do
say, and I just absolutely amreeling from that episode.
It so blessed me.
Speaker 2 (01:08):
Yeah, the Lord used it to fill my cup this week.
I was just excited all week,you know, after the episode, but
I know you are as well.
I'm looking forward to this onetoday as well.
Today we're going to be digginginto Matthew, chapter 14.
So, if you got your Bibles, goahead and get the pages turning
to the text Matthew 14, 22through 23.
(01:30):
And there's so much to learn,there's so much happening and
going on in this passage thattoday we want to take a deep
dive into God's truth and seehow it can impact our lives
right now in 2025.
So, matthew, chapter 14, verses22 through 23,.
Let's get going in the textImmediately.
He made the disciples get intothe boat and go before him to
(01:53):
the other side while hedismissed the crowds.
And after he had dismissed thecrowds, he, jesus, he went up on
the mountain by himself to pray.
When evening came, he was therealone.
So I just want to stop rightthere, pastor Jim, if we can,
for a moment.
The first thing I would like topoint out because, for the
viewers that do not yet knowthis, we're building up to the
(02:15):
verse where it talks about Peterwalking on the water, but I
just want to stop right here, atverse 23, because it says that
Jesus dismissed the crowds.
He goes up onto the mountain byhimself to pray and when
evening comes, jesus is therealone.
Now we know the Father is withhim, but as far as people go
right, jesus is there alone.
So the first thing I want topoint out here is that Jesus got
(02:38):
by himself to pray.
Many times in Scripture we findJesus purposefully being alone.
Times in Scripture we findJesus purposefully being alone.
He's purposefully retreating toquiet places by himself to pray
, just all by himself, right?
So, pastor Jim, what do youfeel?
The benefits for being alonewhile praying are for us today
as followers of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1 (02:59):
Well, I think the word intimacy comes to mind.
We're called to have a deeprelationship with God and I
think and maybe this is justtrue for me, but it could be or
should be for everybody, Ibelieve.
But you know, sometimes inprayer and sometimes when we're
around other people to our leftand to our right I don't want to
say that we're not authentic,because absolutely I believe
(03:20):
that we're authentic, butthere's a difference between me
praying in a corporate setting.
There's difference between myrelationship with the Lord in a
corporate setting versus mybedroom floor or my closet or
wherever I am alone in the.
You know whether that could bemy vehicle.
There's an intimacy to beingwith the Lord by myself, and
(03:42):
then, more than that, you know,the distractions get cut down.
I don't have to worry aboutwhat maybe somebody else is
thinking about my prayer, andI'm not saying that that's
something that I'm strugglingwith, but I certainly could
imagine that being a strugglefor people.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
Yeah, I think that when we are in a corporate
setting, sometimes our mind canwander a bit, especially while
other people are praying.
And prayer is a discipline,right, like we have to be
disciplined in honing in andfocusing and remaining in tune
with the Spirit while otherpeople are praying, so that our
mind it's like we have to trainour mind and our heart not to
(04:21):
wander off.
Right, so it is something to beperfected, it is a discipline,
it is a practice, and I thinkthat that's another benefit of
us as followers of Christ beingalone so that we can hone in on
that discipline, so that we canpractice that, so that we can
work on perfecting our mind notbeing easily interrupted or
swayed.
Right, so that when we get intocorporate settings, we can just
(04:43):
be like a fine-tuned prayingmachine right, dialed up, dialed
in, no interruptions.
Even if there's potentialinterruptions in a room,
nothing's going to bedistracting us.
Speaker 1 (04:53):
Yeah, jesus here to me prioritizes prayer.
Okay, and really that reflectson even though he's God in flesh
, he still has a dependence onthe Father, right Even in his
divine authority.
And what he did was when hesent the crowds away and he sent
the disciples away and he wentto pray.
What he was doing was he wassort of setting the stage to go
(05:17):
get strength for a miracle thatwas about to happen, as you
talked and alluded to.
We're getting ready to talkabout how he calmed the storm.
That's Jesus showing completecontrol over the elements,
complete control over God'screation, and so he has this
dual nature, human and divine,and it's evident that believers,
in following like Christ andhis example, we should be
(05:41):
prioritizing prayer for ourstrength and our alignment to
God's will.
Speaker 2 (05:45):
Yeah, absolutely Moving on in the text, we're
going to jump right into Matthew14, 24.
But the boat, by this time, wasa long way from the land,
beaten by the waves, for thewind was against them.
And in the fourth watch of thenight, he Jesus.
He came to them, walking on thesea.
But when the disciples saw himwalking on the sea, they were
(06:06):
terrified and said it is a ghost.
And they cried out in fear.
But immediately Jesus spoke tothem saying Take heart, it is.
I Do not be afraid.
You know, pastor Jim.
The point I'd like to make hereis that the disciples were
scared of that which they didnot know.
Is that the disciples werescared of that which they did
not know?
They did not know this wasJesus Christ walking on the
(06:28):
water out towards them.
They thought it was a ghost.
Oftentimes Christians fear whatthey do not know, even when it
comes to godly things, whetherit be letting go and truly
selling out in worship, whetherit be the topic of praying in
tongues, whether it be readingand studying the end times in
(06:53):
the book of Revelation.
Oftentimes people fear thesetypes of things, even though
clearly, pastor Jim, it's in theBible, it's talked about and
taught in the Word of God, butthey stay away from it because
they just don't know about it.
So how do you think Christianstoday who are dealing with
fearing godly things simplybecause they just don't know
about it?
So how do you think Christianstoday who are dealing with
fearing godly things simplybecause they've never
experienced them for themselves,how do you think those types of
Christians can get over thatfear?
(07:13):
Because I think there'sprobably some listeners
listening right now that havesome fear in their lives when it
comes to their walk with God.
They fear some things eventhough they shouldn't, but they
fear some things simply becausethey don't know about those
things.
Speaker 1 (07:28):
I think you have to get into His presence.
You know, the calming of thedisciples happened after Jesus
walked on the water and showedhis presence and you kind of
talk about it a little bit.
You've been preaching throughthe book of Revelation and every
single Sunday morning, beforeyou get ready to preach through
the book of Revelation, youalways say this isn't something
(07:52):
that should be feared.
Yeah Right, this is the victory, this is the truth, this is the
word of God.
We have nothing to fear inRevelation.
Well, in the same way, we havenothing to fear when we're in
the presence of the Lord.
And when we get into thepresence of the Lord, we begin
to kind of more clearly see Hisidentity and who he is and who
we are in Him.
So it's a lot less likely forus to fear circumstances because
(08:15):
we know we're in the presenceof the Father, who knows us, and
we know Him, and it's more of aagain back to that word
intimacy.
Speaker 2 (08:23):
Pastor Jim, I can remember a point during a
worship service.
This particular service, theanointing was just heavy, it was
beautiful, and there was anolder sister in Christ.
And there was an older sisterin Christ and she came to the
front of the church.
I didn't know she was coming.
The worship team's playing.
She comes to the front, justdown below there at the altar,
(08:47):
and just right there she doesn'tmake this big announcement that
she's there.
You know, she just comes to thealtar and she just begins to do
this little dance.
And I'm going to tell you, man,I knew it was of the Lord
because, number one, I couldfeel the anointing, you could
feel the presence of the Lord.
But, number two, she wasn'tdoing it as a look at me type
deal, right, and it was so ofthe Lord that people didn't
(09:14):
break out of their own worshipto just sit there and watch this
dance.
That was this woman's time tocome forward and offer this
dance as a gift to the HeavenlyFather.
You know, if she'd have stayedin her chair, there wasn't room
to do what she was doing.
So she gets herself out, shegoes to the altar, right, and
she does this beautiful kind oflike an interpretive dance type
deal and it was just amazing.
Haven't seen it done since then, but it was absolutely a
(09:34):
beautiful, beautiful thing and,again, everybody who was towards
the front of the room who wasblessed enough to be able to
have an opportunity to witnessit, there was no bad feeling
because you could tell that itwas done in humility and for the
love of the Father.
The Spirit never quenched, itjust actually intensified
(09:55):
because the Spirit of God wasedified.
God was pleased.
He accepted this woman'sinterpretive dance as worship
and the entire room justcontinued to worship.
So you are exactly right inwhat you say.
When you're in the presence ofGod, even things that you don't
know about, you can stillreceive peace.
(10:16):
It's as if the Holy Spirit ofGod is saying calm down, calm
down.
This is okay and this is of meand this honors me.
So, even though you don't knowabout it yet, my son or my
daughter, all is well and it isstill okay.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Yeah, god's sovereign , not just in the good stuff,
he's also sovereign over thechaos, you know.
And when Peter's in the boatand the storms are rolling,
they're in chaos, like they'renot just kind of going through
little waves, I mean.
It is a storm brewing and sothey have fear.
And it's Jesus demonstratingthis sovereignty he has over the
(10:54):
chaos, that it's this call thatwe should trust him in all
circumstances.
And so I thought a reallyinteresting thing kind of in
this point is when Jesus says inthe 27th verse, he says, take
heart, it is I, you know, it isI.
In the Greek is actually theterm I am where God calls
(11:19):
himself I am.
So the Greek is ego, I am me.
And when Jesus uses hisauthority over the sea, he uses
this term I am.
And I thought it was reallyneat because it's just another
place in the Bible that kind ofaffirms his identity as God.
Right, jesus is calling himselfGod.
In that moment he says I am, Iam, is here, and that's how he,
(11:44):
when he came onto the scene.
He said I am, and then therewas peace.
Speaker 2 (11:49):
And what a blessing it is that the great I am is not
just in the midst of theirstorm, but he's in the midst of
ours as well.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
Yeah, we can trust Jesus's presence and his power
in our trials.
We can overcome our fearthrough faith in him.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
Amen.
Let's keep on moving intoscripture.
Matthew, chapter 14.
We're going to look together atthe 28th and the 29th verse.
It says this and Peter answeredhim Lord, if it is you, command
me to come to you on the water.
He said, come.
So Peter got out of the boatand walked on the water and came
to Jesus.
So something I want to thinkabout here many people give
(12:30):
Peter a hard time because hesank.
But before Peter sank, he didwalk on the water.
I've referenced that a lot whenI talk about the life of Peter.
Right, christians give him ahard time.
Oh, he was walk on the water.
I've referenced that a lot whenI talk about the life of Peter.
Right, christians give him ahard time.
Oh, he was looking at the waves, the wind, the sea, the rain.
You know he was payingattention to the chaos, focusing
on the chaos rather than hisfaith in Christ.
But man, let's give the mancredit.
You know he's walked on water.
(12:51):
I don't know if anybody elsehas done it.
You know what I mean.
You know I mean, yeah, that'shuge.
The Bible it does not let usknow how far he walked, but it
does tell us that Peter got outof the boat and walked on the
water and came to Jesus.
That's what it says.
So one thing I love about Peter, pastor Jim, is that he wanted
to get out of the boat.
Like first and foremost let'sgive the brother credit for that
(13:13):
, you know like he wanted to getout of the boat and he trusted
Jesus to make it happen.
So he could get out of the boat.
Lord, bid me come.
Some translations say you knowso.
He doesn't know exactly howdeep this water is, but he does
know it's dangerous waters, hedoes know it's dark, he does
know the storm is raging, hedoes know that the waters are
(13:33):
rough and it's storming.
So how many times in life arewe called, you and I and our
listeners, called to step out infaith and just start walking?
And maybe it's a new businessventure, maybe it's getting
married, maybe it's starting afamily, maybe it's beginning a
new ministry, maybe it'sbuilding a new home, purchasing
a new vehicle, and the list cango on and on.
(13:55):
But are we called to step out?
And if we are, then we got totake that step, even when we
don't know all the details.
Hebrews 11, 6 says it lets usknow that without faith it is
impossible to please God.
Speaker 1 (14:11):
Yeah, you know, peter stepping into the water.
It's showing faith's activenature.
So you can't just say, oh well,I have faith for something to
happen and sit in your chair andwait for it to happen.
I mean, there are times forthat.
But this specific situation,peter, is showing us that faith
is active, right and it's alsoenabled by Jesus' power, because
(14:33):
it didn't happen until Jesussaid, okay, come on.
You know.
And then also to that pointwhere you say he just wanted to
get out of the boat.
You could also say he justwanted to get close to Jesus.
He just needed to be close inhis storm to the one who Just
needed that presence.
That's right.
And so he said bid me, come.
And Jesus said, okay, come on.
So his faith, active in nature,was enabled by the power of
(14:54):
Jesus saying let's go.
And Peter's walk on the water.
It proves that faith, whenfocused on Jesus, can achieve
the impossible through hisstrength being Christ's strength
.
Speaker 2 (15:08):
You know what I love about it.
Peter says Lord, bid me, come.
And Jesus says come on, yeah,you know like.
So I just want to tell andencourage our listeners here
today I don't care what you'vegot going on in life.
If you want to accept JesusChrist in your life right now as
Lord and Savior, if you want todraw closer to the presence of
(15:30):
the Lord, jesus every time isgoing to say come, yeah, come.
Why?
Because he loves us.
We are not good enough.
We are not good enough.
So if you're out there feelingtoday like you're not good
enough to get into the presenceof God, can I just say welcome
to the club?
Nobody is.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Yeah, I don't have a blind faith.
I have a faith that's aresponse to the call of Jesus,
because he's calling everysingle person who's unsaved.
He's calling you, and so yourfaith isn't something that's
just blind.
Well, I think I'm going tobelieve this today Now.
It's a response to Jesus' callto come, follow him.
He says follow me.
So you know, we're encouraged,I guess, to say you could take
(16:10):
risks in obedience, right, Onlywhen you're relying on Jesus'
sufficiency.
Speaker 2 (16:15):
Absolutely man, and the fact that all of us are not
worthy enough to come, but thatGod still invites us to come
through Jesus.
What a miracle.
Speaker 1 (16:25):
Yeah, and you know, these are disciples of Jesus too
.
So I think his desire to wantto go be next to Jesus in this
moment shows, you know, the markof true discipleship.
Man, I want to be with myshepherd, I want to be with my
teacher, and so if we look atthe text and the scriptures and
we look at Jesus as the ultimateteacher, rabbi, shepherd, we
(16:48):
should want to be in hispresence, we should want to be
in the Word of God, because he'sthe one teaching us all things
that matter.
Speaker 2 (16:55):
Yes, he is teaching us how to live life and he has
given us everything we need,every biblical principle we need
to make life come from a placeof victory, so that we fight
from a place of victory.
Speaker 1 (17:09):
Yeah, and so you alluded to it.
We have Peter out on the water.
He's walking on the water, butthen in verse 30, we find out
that well, let's just go to thetext.
It says this but when he sawthe wind he was afraid and
beginning to sink, he cried outLord, save me.
Have we all been there?
You know?
I think Peter's sinking revealshow fragile our faith can be
(17:34):
when we're distracted by fear orwe're distracted by the things
around us.
It kind of underscores ourhuman weakness and the need also
to rely on Jesus for all things.
You know, peter cried Lord,save me, save me.
And that shows that even withour failing faith, we can always
find rescue in Jesus's mercy.
Speaker 2 (17:56):
Yeah, what I find interesting here is and we're
all guilty of it at some time oranother is that Peter has gone
back to focusing on what hefirst knew the storm is
dangerous, the wind is blowing,it's raining, the waters are
dark and deep.
I don't want to drown out hereAll completely normal feelings,
(18:16):
if we're being honest with oneanother.
Right, but the problem is thathe let his faith slip.
He let his worry get in frontof his faith and he quickly sees
the results of what happens InLife.
Pastor Jim, we got to rememberthat distractions are just about
everywhere.
They're just about everywhere.
You know, there are going to betimes, mentally, where we take
(18:37):
ourselves back to the beginning.
Okay, those battles are realand they are going to happen.
Storms are going to come, butwe cannot focus on, you know,
those things that we knew backat the beginning.
Our faith has to help usovercome those things.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
Yeah, because our faith falters, though without it
being focused on Christ.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Absolutely, absolutely.
Matthew 14, 31 through 33 saysJesus immediately reached out
his hand and took hold of him,saying to him oh you of little
faith, why did you doubt?
And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased and those in
the boat worshiped him, sayingTruly you are the Son of God.
Speaker 1 (19:17):
Doesn't his immediate cry?
Going back one verse, hisimmediate cry.
It models repentance anddependence.
And so then, when we get tothis next verse and Jesus saves
Peter, it's like this immediate,redemptive story that we're
just reading.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
You know what I mean.
Yeah, yeah, well, let's notforget too, then.
That's a great thing that youpoint out there.
It makes me think of this.
Peter cried out man, I can'ttell you how many people that
I've known in my life that havefailed and they never cried out,
yeah, in the process of failing.
You know people that I wouldsay, let's just say, who
(19:57):
struggle with drinking, and Iand I would give them my
personal number and I said, man,please call me.
Call me if ever you need helpbefore you walk in that store.
Call me.
If ever you're being temptedwhen you're walking through that
store and you do not want topurchase alcohol, call me.
And I'm talking aboutalcoholics with serious problems
, you know.
And then you know, later on theywould confess to me, they'd
(20:19):
talk to me and they'd sharetheir storm and they'd say, man,
I failed this past weekend.
I'm like, yeah, but man, youdidn't call.
I told you to call.
Why did you not call?
And they would say, well, youknow, I didn't want to bother
you, you know, and I think thatthere are Christians like that
that feel like, well, I don'twant to bother God, or I just
don't want to take the timecrying out, or maybe it's some
of this If I cry out, then maybeGod's actually going to snatch
(20:41):
me out of what I enjoy being in.
But here's the thing Petercalled out.
Peter cried out and everysingle one of us need to be able
to cry out to God, and if andwhen we do it from a pure heart.
Just like Jesus reached downand helped Peter up, I promise,
friends, god does the exact samething for us today.
Speaker 1 (21:01):
Yeah, and the truth is, it didn't come without a
gentle rebuke.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Jesus says why did you even doubt me?
Yeah, because there has to be alesson, right, there's got to
be a lesson learned.
And he did it withoutcondemning.
Speaker 1 (21:12):
It's not like he said .
I can't believeda-da-da-da-da-da-da, it was
simply.
Why'd you doubt me?
Speaker 2 (21:17):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's so good.
He is their teacher.
You mentioned earlier, youalluded to the fact earlier that
they're his disciples, right,so he is their teacher.
So, even in this incident withPeter, jesus is going to teach
in the moment man.
That's what he does, and can Ijust say that that's what Jesus
still does today, as we walkwith him and are in step with
(21:37):
his spirit, as we walk in theword, as we walk in prayer, as
we walk in worship, as we walkwith other believers, as iron
sharpens iron, jesus is alwaysteaching.
The question is are we alwayslistening?
Speaker 1 (21:50):
Yeah, and I love this next part, when we get into
verse 33.
Well, I'll jump back to 32.
And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
Here's 33.
And this takes me back to lastweek.
And those in the boat, what'dthey do?
They worshiped him.
They worshiped him.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
Praise be to God.
Praise be to God they worshipedhim they worshiped him.
Praise be to God.
Praise be to God.
Can you worship during yourstorm and when the storm is over
?
Can you still keep worshipingwhen?
Speaker 1 (22:16):
Jesus calmed the storm.
Speaker 2 (22:18):
it prompted worship it prompted faith and adoration
in Christ.
Yeah, that's so good, because Ithink oftentimes people cry out
to God to calm the storm.
God calms the storm, and thenpeople still don't keep talking
to God.
Yeah, they just keep moving.
(22:38):
They just keep moving.
Yeah, but man, this should be atime of celebration, a time of
praise you know what I mean Atime of thank you, god, that you
have spared me once again timeof thank you, god, that you have
spared me once again.
Speaker 1 (22:53):
And so to your point where people kind of experience
the crying out and the calmingof the storm and then they just
keep moving it and forget to goback to God.
If we do it in even the smallthings, in all of the things in
our life, then we're never goingto forget to praise worship,
even in the storm.
And then, when the stormhappens, giving thanks and
adoration to the one who goteven in the storm, and then,
when the storm happens, givingthanks and adoration to the one
who got us through the storm.
Speaker 2 (23:12):
Yeah, I think if I had to quickly recap this
passage of text that we juststudied together, I would have
to say Peter cried out for Godand Jesus responded.
One of the most importantthings to me in my faith walk
right now with this, becauseI've got some things going on in
life right now, some personalthings, some really deep
personal things, and, man, I'mjust crying out every day
(23:36):
morning till dark, I'm justtalking to God off and on
throughout the entire day andI'm just asking God.
I'm crying out to God for helpand I'm expecting him to respond
.
Why?
Because that's what my faithfulfather does, you know.
And here's the thing, man,while I'm waiting for his
response, it doesn't mean thathe's not working.
Just because I don't see theanswer yet, the provision yet
(24:00):
for what I'm praying for, itdoesn't mean that he's not
already making moves.
You know what I mean.
So I've just got to keep cryingout until I see a response.
The issue with Peter was he hadenough faith to get out of the
boat, he had enough faith towalk, but he went back to what
he knew and therefore it causedthe lack of faith.
(24:22):
And I think that, while I'mpraying for these major things
in my life right now, just beingpersonal here, and hopefully
the listeners can be blessed byit and they can relate it to
maybe their own lives I have tomake sure that I do not let the
enemy interfere and interveneand try to put a dent in my
armor.
You know that I've got to keeppressing, I got to keep pushing
(24:45):
and the devil's not going totake me back to where he had me
prior to being saved in Christ.
You know so, even though theremay be a storm around, I've got
to choose not to pay attentionto that.
And then the last thing I grasphere and then I'll throw it
over to you, pastor Jim, is thatthe wind ceased.
And if I was taking notes rightnow, I'd write this one word
down victory, the wind ceased.
(25:07):
Therefore, brother, we havevictory, and I'm just believing
that this storm that I am facingright now in life, that the
wind is going to cease, the windis going to stop, the rain is
going to stop, the waves aregoing to go calm and that water
is going to look like a sea ofglass, amen, and I'm just
believing that I will see theresponse of God.
(25:28):
I'm standing on promises fromGod's word, and I'm believing
that God always keeps hispromise, yeah, amen.
Speaker 1 (25:35):
This last text, really, just in this last verse,
just it teaches me that when weencounter a relationship, or
when we experience Jesus and wewalk and live and act through
his power, it leads, or shouldlead, to worship.
Right, we should be affirminghis divine worth, yeah yeah,
(25:57):
absolutely.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
I think another thing that's worthy just kind of
recapping this episode, I thinkanother thing that's worthy to
think about is where you and Italked a little bit about
Christians being scared of whatthey do not know about and they
could be godly things, things ofthe faith.
I personally know that thatkeeps people out of churches.
You know, I personally know ofpeople that will not go to
(26:21):
certain types of churchesbecause of things or ways that
are practiced there, gifts thatare practiced there.
It's just because it's not thatthose things are not godly
things.
It's just because those peoplewere either A bought up in a
church that didn't practicethose things and maybe they were
taught to be fearful of them,or maybe they're just fearful
because they don't know anythingabout it they haven't educated
(26:42):
themselves on what Scriptureactually says about it or, b
they were never raised or grewup in church and to them it just
looks cultish or likesomebody's crazy.
All the while that Bible thatthey may have in their house or
that Bible that they may betoting around in their car or
taking inside their church,actually talks about the things
that they're scared of.
So it goes back to the pointthat you made about just being
(27:04):
in the presence.
So I just want to encourage ourlisteners.
If there's things that you'reunsure about or there's things
that you think you know about,because maybe you've been taught
about it under a certaindenomination and you're just
totally against it, but yet itis in the Word of God, I would
just encourage you, begin to getin the presence of the Lord,
begin to study it, begin to prayabout it, begin to find
(27:24):
somebody who maybe does operatein those particular types of
gifts and hear their heart, nottheir defense, but hear their
heart and hear from them whatScripture says and how the
Spirit of the Lord works thosetypes of gifts out in their life
.
Speaker 1 (27:39):
Yeah, I think we can all take a little bit of a note
from Peter here and be a littlebit more like Peter that in the
fear of the unknown, in theunwavering or not the unwavering
, but in the waves, we just needto look for Jesus.
Yeah, where we're unsure, lookfor Jesus.
Speaker 2 (27:54):
Yeah, man, when you said in the waves, it reminded
me of a time when my parentstook us to the beach.
Yeah, and we used to have backin the day they would have those
really old blow-up rafts.
They were like real tough,maybe, stood like four feet tall
.
They had a little white ropethat went around them.
(28:14):
They were always the same colorred on one side, blue on the
other.
It was almost a canvas materialit was like canvas.
Speaker 1 (28:20):
Yeah, like everybody had one, everyone had one.
Speaker 2 (28:22):
Those were the boogie boards back then.
You know, there were no boogieboards.
I think some might have beenyellow and blue, but I remember
the red and blue ones.
And the cool thing about it was, brother, when you were done,
(28:43):
when you were done boogieboarding on it, you could get
back up onto the beach and layon it.
You know what I mean, becauseit was tight.
You know right where the wavejust breaks up and starts
pushing you and it kind offizzled out.
And so I go to stand up and ahuge wave just came right behind
me and just crushed me from myback and just blew me over.
Well, I was so not prepared forit.
Again, just a little fella.
(29:03):
And it's funny what you rememberin life.
I remember going down Veryvividly, I remember this.
I remember being knocked.
Life.
I remember going down veryvividly, I remember this.
I remember being knocked down.
I knew it was a wave when ithit me.
I could just tell.
So I know, I know I'm beingknocked down in this wave.
I opened my eyes because thiswave literally is tossing me
around underwater and I rememberopening my eyes and just seeing
sand just going everywhere inthe water and the next thing I
(29:26):
remember is my mom.
Now, I didn't know that my momwas anywhere near me, right?
But I'm sure my mom was notgoing to let me get, but so far
in this great, big, vast ocean,without knowing that you know
where I was.
So I'm tossing, I'm turning, Igot my eyes open, sands
everywhere and then my momreaches through the water.
(29:48):
Now, in the in, in the grandplan of it all, this water is
probably just a few feet deep,you know, a couple of feet deep.
My mom reaches down and shepicks me up and pulls me out of
the water.
And this is what my mom says.
I'll never forget it.
She says are you okay?
And I just remember wiping thewater out of my eyes, getting
(30:09):
sand out of my eyes Uh, you, myeyes.
You know I've got snot comingout of my nose.
You know she went, she got myraft and she comes back and she
says that was a big fall, areyou okay?
And I just share that storybecause maybe there's some
people out there today that Godis trying to reach down.
He so desperately wants toreach down and pick you up.
He's standing right therebeside you, just like my mom was
(30:31):
.
God's standing right therebeside you and, just like my mom
, says wow, that was a big fall.
God recognizes.
You know, god is merciful, he'sgot grace, he's got forgiveness
, he understands that we're inflesh and he understands, pastor
Jim, that we mess up.
And it's like God is justwaiting to reach down, pick us
up and say wow, son, daughter,that was a really big fall.
(30:52):
But then, just like my mom said, you know, it's like God is
saying are you okay?
Are you okay?
Speaker 1 (30:59):
Yeah, like he says, take heart, I am is here, I am
is in the house.
Let's pray Amen.
Father, we are so grateful foryour presence.
I am so thankful that, even inthe midst of our storms, you are
there to reach down and ask areyou okay, father?
I pray that this word wouldbless somebody who may be going
(31:21):
through a storm.
Yes, and, father, that theywould be reminded to refocus
whatever they have going on intheir life back to you In the
middle of the storm, Father,would they refocus and look for
you in the middle of it.
And, father, that you would beright there to remind them.
And would the Holy Spirit justgently remind them that they are
a child of you.
And, father, you would notleave or forsake them.
(31:43):
And, father, when we rely onyou and when our faith is put in
you, we can see and do themiraculous, because that is what
your word says.
In Jesus' name, amen.
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