Relying on God in the Storm
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Relying on God in the StormSun, Oct 15, 2023 10AM • 52:22
pressure to get all this set up before that video is off I got to tell you you're like Russian by the way my name's Tony I I always forget to introduce myself before I open my mouth my name is Tony I'm a volunteer here at C3 Church if you are new I am not your senior pastor he will be back next week he asked me to speak this week and anytime he asked me uh to do that I feel honor and privileged and so if you can be in prayer for him and his family um they will be back next week I promise you that um so if it's not any good pastor Jean's back next week so that's the deal right I only have do this and then I know that Pastor Jean comes back next week and it's all going to be okay okay so hang with me we're going to be together for like 35 minutes tops maybe 50 no I'm just kidding I won't hold you that long I listen here's my deal I talk fast you listen fast we're out of here that much quicker okay so that's always my promise to you um listen today we get to speak on something in the New Testament that I love and I know every time I say that every time I speak I say I love this part of the Bible but it's absolutely because I do I mean it's amazing what the Bible holds so we're going to we're going to go to the life of Jesus today and Pastor Jean just spoke I think about three or four weeks ago on the last seven sayings of Christ on the cross which was an amazing message and if you get the power and authority in those last seven statements it's just incredible and so what I'm going to focus on is the things he did during his life we're going to go to one instance in particular we are going to talk about one of the Miracles of Christ today we're going to talk about a miracle that happened now here's the thing I wonder today if we saw a miracle in real life if we would still be as amazed as they were back then right because we do see s such substantial changes in things we are always constantly updated with something new something excited to the degree where your excitement level tones down with something CU like I've seen that before that's been done right like we used to get really excited about the new iPhones like a new iPhone came out and you'd be like man I went from the three to the 5S that's how old I am I was I actually had an iPhone one in the beginning but here's the deal you would get excited now you see one come out you're like great what does it do now like our excitement's dwindled and so I wonder if we would be excited about the Miracles of Christ if we would understand what they meant well here's the deal they still apply to our lives today our the Miracles of Christ can still have a practical application to how we live our life today and so today I want to take a look at one that is uh very impactful to me and we're going to see we're going to apply it to going through the storms in life and we're going to see how Christ who's going to be in the boat with us I'm kind of giving it away is going to guide us through the storms in life even when our faith dwindles so you can turn with me in your Bibles to Mark Mark chapter 4 Mark chapter 4 if you have your Bible if not turn on your app that's how we work today but Mark 4: 35-41 so very short passage but just a whole lot to unpack in here so when we turn to mark 4: 35-41 it says this on that day when evening had come he said to them let us go across the other side this is Jesus talking to his disciples he's been teaching all day and he says let us go across the other side this it's getting crowded we need to get away have you ever needed to get away you need a Snickers break Jesus was like listen it's time to go we got to get away let us go across the other side and leaving the crowd they took him with they took with him in the boat just as he was and the other Boats were with him and a great Windstorm arose and the waves were breaking into the boat so that the boat was already feeling but he was in the Stern asleep on a cushion so Jesus is asleep during this storm they're in this little boat these fishing boats weren't what we have today so this wasn't a very big boat picture something like a John Boat and you've got these people in it you got Jesus he's asleep and so here's the deal and they woke him and said teacher these are disciples these are disciples that are saying teacher do you not care that are we that we are perishing and he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the Sea peace be still and the wind ceased and there was a great Cal he said to them why are you so afraid have you still no faith oh that hurts and they were filled with great fear and said one another who then is this that even the Wind and Sea obey him so we need to break this down for a minute so there's a couple things I want us to focus on what do we need to know about this passage before we move forward so the first thing I need you to see is that in the beginning of this passage right after Jesus is ready to go he's ready to get in the boat I want you to understand there's a promise Jesus gives him a promise look what he says he says let us go across to the other side did he say did he say we're not going to make it to the other side did he say halfway through your boat's going to fill up and going to sink no Jesus said let us go across to the other side do you think it was a surprise to Jesus that a windstorm was going to arise and that water was going to be in the boat no he gives him a promise he's saying hey guys here's the deal we need to go across the other side so let's go there's a promise there they're guaranteed to make it to the other side because Christ said let us go across to the other side there's a promise that's right there there's a guarantee that they're going to make it to the other side the second thing we need to notice is they took Jesus just as he was what a weird place to put this right listen to this when they say and leaving the crowd they took him with them in the boat just as he was that's a weird place to put this but Jesus's been teaching all day he's been out in the sun he's probably sweaty he probably doesn't smell great he doesn't look great his clothes are probably like dirty from being out side and teaching and all these things and they took Jesus as he was what a weird place to put that but what an incredible place at the same time because it's probably like the worst Jesus probably looks it's been 12 hours out in the sun out in the heat dirt everywhere and it's not like Jesus go take a shower first Jesus go change your clothes first Jesus maybe you want some food first maybe you should get refreshed no they took Jesus just as he was right there another thing we need to know the storm arises and the disciples Faith dwindles the storm arises and the the disciples Faith dwindles now we're going to get into that this is not the first miracle that they've seen this is not a surprise Jesus this is not a Jesus they haven't seen do great things they've already proclaimed him to be the Son of God and yet a storm arises and they their faith dwindles they've seen it they've seen it firsthand now I've often said I don't know how I'd react to that because here's the deal we could sit here and we could judge the disciples we could be like man those guys saw Miracles they knew Jesus was God and yet their faith was dwindled in that instance well here's the problem we have this we have the very word of God right in front of us it tells us exactly what's going to happen as a matter of fact we probably have more than disciples had and we can read and we can believe that this is the true word of God and When Storms arise in our life our faith shouldn't dwindle either because because we have this and it tells us what to do and yet we've been through storms in life where our faith dwindles and we become afraid so we can't judge the disciples too harshly but we can definitely use them as an example the next thing we see is Jesus at the end of the day fulfills the original promise in the face of their failure of his own disciples Jesus still fulfills his promise see Jesus is faithful even when we're not right so these are the things we see so how do we apply these why do we need to know these things well the first thing you need to understand is God has made us promises God has made us promises see just like he told the disciples let's go to the other side let's go to the other side we're going to get there it's going to be fine everything's going to be okay he's made us promises the first thing he does is he promises us an eternal home John 142 and3 says in my father's house are many rooms if it were not so would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you and if I go to prepare a place for you I will come again and take you to myself and that where I am you may be also so he promises us an eternal home we have an eternal home promis to us what does that do for us well it should give us hope and joy the fact that this is not it in the Sorrows of today's life and the difficulties of today's life this is not the end this is not the goal this is not where we belong the Bible says we're strangers we're peculiar people and we're traveling to another land so we're just passing through so the promise of Eternal home should give us hope even in this even when times are not at their greatest we should have hope and joy that this is not it listen I'll give you a great example so most of you who don't know me I'm married and I have an amazing wife and she left very early Thursday morning and went out of town and left me and my youngest son to fend for ourselves so listen there is a there is a a temporary time of Despair and sorrow in my house right now because things are out of control like listen my wife is the detail person she makes sure I am very well taken care of and that everything goes well for me and now I'm like she does like I have to go through the list of things she does I'm like she does this too like the dogs are looking at me and they're like bro we're on a schedule and I'm like yeah well not today not today my son's looking at me like what are we eating uh I'll order some pizza we haven't eaten anything we've cooked in 4 days that's like there's pizza boxes and we went out to eat one day and like we had milkshakes for breakfast it was insane so like this is it there's a temporary time of sorrow but listen I know it's coming to an end because directly after this I go pick her up from the airport so it's back she's back now don't tell her I gave her all this credit because then I'll lose some ground right no but there's my temporary sign of Sorrows and our temporary time of eating out every night are about to end because the wife is coming home she's going to take care of us there's there's joy and Hope because she's going to be home today listen our life here these Sorrows these storms that we go through we have hope and joy because this is an eternity this is but a small small section if you are saved today and that means that you believe Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins he rose again three days later and he's preparing a home for you if you've accepted Christ as your savior this life is what James calls but a vapor it's kind of here today gone tomorrow There's Hope and there's joy because we have something others don't we have the promise of Eternity with a God who loves us so much he sent his son to die on the cross for us so what else does he promis us well he promises us an eternal helper an eternal helper John 14:1 15-17 if you love me you will keep my Commandments and I will ask the father and he will give you another helper to be with you forever even the spirit of Truth whom the word cannot receive because it neither sees him nor knows him you know him for he dwells with you and will be in you so he's talking about here about the Holy Spirit he promises us an eternal Helper and guide now we are not always welcome to that Eternal Helper and guide right because once we receive Christ that Eternal Helper and guide says hey you're supposed to do a certain thing a certain way and there's conviction that goes with it and sometimes we're like man I wish I didn't have this little holy spir it would be so much easier to sin if I didn't have this little voice inside of me telling me don't do this do it this way so here's what this provides us this provides us with the guarantee of Direction the guarantee of direction see if we're living the way God wants us to live we're in his word and we're obeying his Commandments and we're listening to the Holy Spirit you're never lost the storm never destroys your direction you never lose sight of the the land you're supposed to be going because you're walking through the spirit he's guiding your life he's telling you which direction to go and he's all doing it based on the authority that Christ and God granted him correct so that's the deal so even when the storms are at the worst and the rain is going in your eyes and and the wind is blowing water in your boat you always know which direction to go because you've been promised an eternal helper you've been promised as an eternal guide I like it because you know I'm not a ship guy I'm not a boat guy cuz I get seasick very terribly but I love to listen to how these guys find their way home when their instruments are down I love to see that they're always looking at the stars and they're mapping out where these permanent stars are and it's always a guiding way home like I know that stars in the north this stars in the South I know I got to go this way to get home well even when the storms in life are cloudy in the sky we still have a guide we still have a helper we still have somebody that gives us directions knowing that they're through Christ right so what else does he promises us well he promises us eternal love Psalms 36:7 how precious is your steadfast love oh God and so here's the deal in today's world one of the things that some of people feel like they lack is love and acceptance right love and acceptance is such a big word it's such a big thing anymore like you don't accept me for who I am you don't you don't love me for who I am things like that well here we see that God has a supernatural love for everyone think about it it existed before you did he loved you before you were born that's what the Bible tells us for God so loved the world the world there's no categories there the entire world there is nothing that qualifies for God so loved the entire world that he sent his only son to die on the cross for our sins can you think about a greater love such a more sacrificial love than to send down your only son to die for the sins of people who don't even accept you most of the time even us Christians even us who've accepted Christ as Savior how often times would you think about it from God's perspective that you Wander from the path that God's given you you get involved in something you shouldn't be you're doing something you blame God you're angry at God and yet he knowing that you're going to do that still sent his son to die on the cross for your sins there's no greater love than there so in a world where sometimes we can feel lonely we can listen that's a human emotion we're still humans there's nobody up here telling you that once you become a Christian you lose the whole like self-esteem issue you always feel loved I'm no I'm not saying that you still have human emotions but it should be resolved through our relationship with Christ when we feel like there's nobody that cares there's nobody that's listening nobody really cares about who I am you can realize that God has promised you eternal love it never goes away no matter what you do think about it God loves you even when you don't love God back think about Peter and Peter is one of the 12 disciples right he's one of the guys that we look towards and unfortunately Peter gets a Peter earns his rap I mean can you imagine all your mistakes being put etern like all your mistakes are written in this book oh I'm glad I don't have a book like it would be bad can you imagine though but Peter not only has faltings when Christ is alive but as soon as Christ is crucified as he's being crucified Peter is denying Christ to a point that the Bible says he curses he's def he's like I'm gonna make it known I nope nope I have no idea what you're talking about he denies Christ and yet God's love for Peter didn't go away in that very moment I can think from a human love standpoint if somebody denies you like that you have a tendency to be like well we're not friends anymore there's a problem but from God's standpoint even though Peter denies him God still loves him so let me get this point in here real quick because I I'm an example of this there may have been something that you've done in life that you're ashamed of that you're hurt by and you did it to yourself and you're thinking to yourself right now there's no way God can use me there's no way God can love me and what I'm here to tell you is that's completely false I'm here to tell you that God loves you no matter what you did I'm a shining example of that I can tell you quickly on this instance because I want to share this real quick the thing about it is this I went to Bible College I got a Bible degree I went into the ministry I was doing what God wanted me to do and then all of a sudden it was like I went a different path I ended up getting out of the ministry getting into corporate life ended up divorced ended up not going to church for 10 years stayed away from church because I couldn't step into church because I was divorced and I had stepped away from God and I didn't believe I was worthy enough to come into church there's no point I have failed God so what was the point of going to church and I had bought into that now my wife who I married during that time uh God sent somebody who was very patient very gracious and if you meet her she expounds all those things she went to church without me can you imagine she didn't have the history I did she didn't go to Bible College she didn't graduate from that yet she went to church even when I didn't so here's the deal I get a job and I foolishly promise God I was like listen God if you give me this schedule I'll go to church on Sunday if you give me Monday through Friday and I'll tell you what God answered that stupid arrogant prayer I have no idea why and I was like man what church are we going to go to and there was an Instagram post from my student Pastor when I was in high school and he was an executive pastor at a local church and it just popped up on my Instagram he was taking selfies and I was like that's that's got to be something right so I'll never forget I walked in on a September 15th I'll never forget the day because I walked in and I walked into this huge Auditorium this huge church and like 700 people in the auditorium and there's a huge cage on stage because this mega church has did things differently right they had this huge metal cage on stage and I'll never forget the pastor he's speaking on being locked in and he's like some of you guys today sitting here are locked in to your past and he stepped into the cage and he closed the gate and all you heard was the metal clang and instantly I began to tear up because I realized that was me see God still loved me I missed that because the human side of me says oh I failed him so how can he love me well his love is eternal his love is greater than anything we could ever imagine it's not even humanly possible to grasp so if you're in this room today and you feel like God doesn't love you anymore I'm here to tell you false there's a promise there's a promise of eternal love so what else do we have here so just look at what we go next they took Jesus as he as he was so we must do the same right like Jesus can't be changed and molded into what we want him to be like some people like yeah I like my I like my Jesus in a tuxedo shirt or something like that like no it doesn't work I like my Jesus to only exist on Sundays that's a big one my Jesus only exists on Sundays we may not say that out loud but we live it because some sometimes listen guilty we're a church of real people right I'm a real person guilty I come in on Sunday and I do the church thing I come in and my heart's not in it I'm like man I just I need to go to church so I go to church My Heart's Not totally in it I come in I get the message and I I say hi to everybody and I I I I feel good when I leave and then it's done it stops right there because Jesus for me is only on Sundays and westernized culture we've kind of gotten to that point we don't take Jesus every day we don't take him for who he is what he stands for because it doesn't fit into our lifestyle it doesn't fit into the image we want Jesus every day oh I don't know about that I don't know how that would look listen we have to present Jesus for who he is to those who need to see him right we're supposed to be a representation an embodiment of Christ we're supposed to be Christlike how can we be Christlike if we don't want Christ to be the way he is if we want to change him and mold him if we want to make him into something he's not see the Bible gives us a very clear picture about who Christ is and that's the only way it goes it can't go any other way moving forward we look at it it's often during these times of storms in our lives that we stop seeking Gods I want you to get this because this is going to be good right these are fishermen they they've been through storms before right and so they know how to deal with storms waves come over the boat bail it out listen grab the bucket they knew exactly how to handle this situation like grab the bucket we can handle this and they start bailing out water and they don't pay attention to the fact it doesn't cross their mind it doesn't Dawn on them Jesus is in the boat no no no I'm going to handle this I'm going to handle this how often when we go through storms in life do we believe on my own power and my own authority I'm going to handle this listen that's the way I was raised my dad taught me my dad was a very military dad I love my dad he loves me but I'm telling you the way it was raised is like hey man if you're hurt you work through it if you're sick you'll be fine you'll be okay to some degree my boys would tell you I'm kind of the same way like you can figure it out put it together don't freak out nobody can see that you're freaking out you're a man handle it right this is my life I've done this before I can handle this and so we get in storms in life and we begin to be like you know what I can do this I don't need anybody's help I can figure it out you know how I know that we do that because our Instagram and social media never shows the hard times right we never post the difficult times like if we posted these past four days if I posted a true Instagram of these past four days what you would see is a lot of empty pizza boxes you would see no dishes in the sink because we've been using paper plates like living like Savages if I posted that be like life is this way right now no no right you post a selfie and you're like listen we're having such a great time wish you were here no that's that's the way we are we think we're going to handle things in life we're going to handle it without anybody knowing because that's what we do we're going to bail this water out by G Jesus who's that I got this I can handle this and Jesus is with us if we're saved Jesus is with us the entire time we sit here and we blame the disciples Jesus in the boat Jesus lives inside of us if you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior it's easy for us to pray a prayer for us to rely on Christ and yet we don't do it we tend to rely on our own strength and where does that get us usually that gets us in deeper water usually the water keeps coming in and we're still trying to bail and we haven't figured it out we haven't figured it out that we don't need to bail out the water you get that the disciples didn't ever need to bail out the water they had Jesus in the boat with them and listen storms in life are going to happen I know today's Christianity with the promises that are made if you live a good enough life if you give enough money if you're faithful enough your life is always going to be a bed of roses that is the biggest lie the devil's ever created in Christianity let me explain why you get somebody new that accepts Christ and you tell them their life is always going to be good it's you pray you're going to be fine you're going to be okay listen if you have strong enough Faith you can be your grandmother is going to be healed from this and then their grandmother passes on you have strong enough Faith you're never going to struggle and then they lose their job I'm telling you you will go through storms in life the storm is not a surprise to Christ Our storms in our lives are not a surprise to God what happens in our life is not a surprise to God God is aware of it but he's waiting for you to stop bailing out the water when are you going to rely on me when are you going to wake Christ up and like I said I'm that guy like there there's things in my life where I'm like I can handle this on my own we live in a I I work in a very masculine profession I am a deputy um you can blame me later listen I I'll make the same guarantee I make to everybody else if we meet outside of work and I'm on duty I will never tell anybody about it now you may tell on yourself but that's you like we had a guy at my son's football game I know who he is but I ignore it and I continue with life and he walks up and he's like ah corpal Johnson I'm like dude nobody needs to know nobody needs to know about our interactions like so if I ever interact with you outside in uniform here's my guarantee unless you bring it up I won't you're welcome I guess we know who's guilty but listen masculine profession and so here's the deal there you come to work sick you come to work hurt and you're like I'm fine I can handle this I hurt my foot in the beginning of September and I'm telling you what if anybody would have run from me in the first two weeks of December they would have got away September they would have got away I walked up to cars and I'm like I'm like please don't look in your rearview mirror and see the fact that I look like an older and I did it on a treadmill how does that happen getting older that's what's happening but we tend to be like I can handle this I can do it on my own I don't need anybody's help until it becomes too much and then I want you to see the reaction and I want you to I want you to picture the last thing you went through and the last thing that was really tough in your life the last time that you were bailing out water on your own and I want you to relate to what the disciples did because notice the disciples didn't go Jesus is in the boat Jesus can you can you can you calm the storms and Waters Jesus I believe you know exactly what's going on can you can you help me through this can you provide guidance can you can you give me some understanding can you provide me with a peace about this that we're going to be okay that is not how the disciples reacted and again I want you to think about this because here's how they did react they didn't ask Jesus for help instead they included him in their storm so now Jesus became part of the problem look at the way they respond to him and they woke him and said to him teacher do you not care that we're perishing and you need to understand like we read it and it doesn't sound desperate but it is because they believe they're about to die they believe it's the end Jesus is in the boat I want you to understand the Miracles let me read this off they have seen 11 Miracles before this I'm going to read these very quickly changing water into wine impressive healing the Royal official son pretty good healing of the Caper uh the the Demonic capern healing of Peter's mother-in-law Healing The Sick during the evening catching a large number of fish Miracle of healing the centurion's uh servant healing a paralyzed man heal healing of the withered hand and then just to top it off they saw somebody raised from the dead the Widow son they've seen all of these things 11 Miracles and yet Jesus becomes part of the problem do you not care that we're perishing God do you not care that I've lost my job do you not care that I have a family member that's dying do you not care that I don't understand what my kids are doing do you not care that I'm tired and depressed do you not care that I don't have enough money tell me these aren't common things that we've all thought in the middle of a storm the disciples acted exactly the way we do and you can talk about they saw 11 Miracles they did how many times has Jesus come through for you have you thought about that have you thought about the times that Jesus has come through you ever thought about the times when it's not obvious that it came through but then you think about it it's like wow I don't know how that happened I can tell you when that happens for me I work 6:00 a.m. to 600 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. so I work 12 hours and then I drive home I'm going to give you a little inside knowledge to deputies here don't hold it against us but there are nights when you are exhausted so like Wednesday night we got in a fight with somebody there's OC spray deployed it's terrible it's awful my skin is burning I'm tired I've been sweating all night like I've got to do all this paperwork now and it's 6:00 a.m. and I'm like I get to go home and I can tell you exactly what light it was at because I was there somewhat so I'm there and I'm sitting at the light of Logan and Vanderbilt and it's red arrow turning left I'm going northbound just to set preference and I'm sitting there and I I remember pulling up to that light I do not remember it turning green I don't somebody honked their horn and I was like what I woke up all of a sudden cuz I had fallen asleep at a red light listen this happens this is what it is right listen but here's the deal somehow I get home safely every morning God watches out for me at times I'll be like have you ever been on a long trip and you've been like wow how did I get here I sometimes ask that when my wife's driving no just kidding just that was shouldn't have told that joke [Laughter] she's no but like have you ever take take stock of the small times in life that God has you handled and you don't even know it because you're on autopilot you're not even considering it that God is performing small miracles in your life because I am dumb and I do stupid things I can't tell you how many dangerous dumb things that most people would not do that I've done in my profession it it goes against the laws of what we should do and I think to myself Dr I'm like that was awesome and then I'm like I'm an idiot I cannot believe God continues to take care of me but he does so we shouldn't include him in the storm we should be fully aware of what he's capable of because he's done it already he's proven he's trustworthy he's faithful even when we are not so what do we need to do well the first first thing we need to do is seek God even when the storms are at their worst even when the storms are at the worst and what does storms breed fear right the minute listen you can tell somebody that hasn't been in Florida cuz the minute the little hurricane thing pops up and like the noodles are like headed at Florida you have some people freaking out man and I know we're Floridians we're like that's just a category one I've been there right now it's like it's just Category 3 we'll be all right it's it's a windstorm but you have people that have never been through them and they're like freaking out they're like dude I got to buy all the water possible and we're sitting over here like no man I'm going to wait a week to get mine so I need you to like I need some of that later please do not buy all the water that's what we're thinking right the first time I I got to be honest with you I went to Missouri for college and they have tornado alarms that go off they're like loud alarms like legit and so here's my deal I'm from Florida so I'm dumb and I hear this alarm and I'm like I'm opening my door I'm going on something like where is it where's the tornado and my neighbors are looking at me like dude get inside it's for real when these alarms go off it's a bad thing no no no we don't have that fear of that but we do have fear storms Inspire fear especially when the wind and the water starts coming in and now we're like oh man I've lost my job I don't know how I'm going to pay for my rent I don't know how I'm going to pay for my car how am I going to feed my kids how am I going to feed myself and we begin to freak out and fear is a very real thing and there's no sin fear is not sinning okay let me equate that if you have fear it's not sin now your reaction to fear can be right now there is a reaction to fear that's legit I can tell you for me it comes over the radio because when you get afraid and we start to key up we're like uh nles and your voice cracks you're like okay Hulk get it under control Johnson we're okay yeah yeah I'm going to need more units over here but that first initial reaction is you're out of breath your your vision is narrowed and your voice is higher and it's like that's a reaction to fear and stress I want you to understand how we're supposed to react fear should lead us to faith Luke 12 4-12 says this dear friends don't be afraid of those who want to kill your body they cannot do anym to you after that but I'll tell you whom to fear fear God who has the power to kill you and then throw you into hell yes he's the one to fear what is the price of five sparrows two copper coins yet God does not forget a single one of them and the Very hairs on your head are numbered so don't be afraid you are more valuable to God than some flock of sparrows I tell you the truth everyone who acknowledges me publicly here on Earth the son of man will also acknowledge in the presence of God's angels but anyone who denies me here on Earth will be denied before God's angels anyone who speaks against the son of man uh against the son of man can be forgiven but anyone who blasphemes the holy spirit will not be forgiven and when you are bought brought to the trial in the synagogue and before the rulers and authorities don't worry about how to defend yourself or what to say for the holy spirit will teach you at that time what needs to be said I want you to understand he gives three things here really quickly the first thing is he gives you the fear of death he tells you listen he doesn't tell you to sin to be afraid of death but he tells you why why why be afraid of it it's not a sin to fear death but why as Christians do you not understand that listen the most thing can do is kill this body and then we have the promised Eternal home we have the promised Eternal home and then he gives us the fear of what I like to call the self-esteem issue right do we really matter who do we matter to how what does my life mean what does it matter to anybody well listen he tells us right here he's like he's not calling you out for thinking that way he's giving you an answer and he's telling you are you not more valuable than a flock of sparrows that God knows every single one of them individually the hairs on your head are numbered we mattered to Christ he answers that fear of anxiety of like where do I belong in this world why do I matter who do I matter to he answers that fear he doesn't call that fear into question he says listen when you have it this is the way you should think and then he answers the fear of man how do I answer for what I believe you don't have to the holy spirit's going to give you those give you what you need it's amazing right the thing about it is people begin when you begin to have faith that God's going to give you the words to say you will be able to talk about your religion you'll be able to talk about Christ because the holy spirit will give you the words now here's the deal not all of us can read Greek like Pastor Jean right that guy knows more about the Bible he's forgotten more about the Bible than I'll ever know that's why I love being here I love learning at that that kind of intensity but you don't have to know that to be able to talk about Christ Christ to be able to expound on your faith you don't have to be able to do that the holy spirit's going to give you the words you need he's going to give you exactly what you need so there's no fear there listen Jesus was such a perfect example and often times this is so overlooked Luke 22 42-44 this is God this is Christ praying in the garden right before his crucifixion and I want you to read it with the desperation because the Bible goes on and says he sweat droplets of blood that's in the end of this but understand the desperation that he's praying so hard that he pops capillaries in his face and he's literally sweating blood that's what this is for him father if you are willing please take this cup of suffering away from me yet I want your will to be done not mine then an angel from heaven appeared and strengthened him he prayed more fervently and he was in such Agony of the spirit that his sweat fell to the ground like great droplets of blood I want you I want to break this down for a second Christ was very much anxious about what was about to happen because he's 100% human and 100% God there's no way you can dispute this in any way shape or form other than Christ is thinking about the the pain that he's about to endure can you IM imagine if you had knowledge of the death that Christ was about to face not even the death just about the brutality and it's often something we don't address because it's just really hard to stomach right I'll never forget watching the passion for the first time I watched The Passion of Christ for the first time when I was in Missouri we went and saw it as a bible college and I'm telling you what you could hear a pin drop when that movie ended because you understand the brutality that Christ went through not just in the crucifixion but think about leading up to the crucifixion the 50 lashes with the cat and Ninetails the carrying of an unshaven cross on a back that is ripped so Raw it's unidentifiable Christ knows this is coming and The Human Side of him is like I what look at what happens an angel of Heaven appeared and strengthened him so okay that fixes it right he's been ministered to he prayed more fervently and was on such Agony of the spirit that he that sweat fell to the ground like great droplets of blood understand he's now been ministered to and he's still praying fervently for strength to do God's will the Christian Life not even close to the crucifixion that Christ faced is not always easy and sometimes the storm Ms we have to go through them we have to that's what God has for us so what I'm telling you right now is even though you pray and have faith you still may have to go through storms now what you need to believe is that Christ is in control God is in control I'm going through this but there's a purpose there's a reason there's an outcome listen you're you're not promised tomorrow you're only given today and you're promised eternity so what I'm saying here today is that Christ himself still had to navigate through the crucifixion even though he's the very Son of God and he's praying more fervently probably than I've ever prayed in my entire life and yet God does not say you know what we don't need the crucifixion God's very own son praise so much that he sweats blood and yet he still goes through the crucifixion there's no promise of it being an easy life as a matter of fact if you read this book it's not listen the TW have you ever seen how the 12 how their life ended the people that served Jesus In the Flesh did not end well it didn't yet they wrote most most of them have a book in here and yet they ended up being Martyrs died painful brutal deaths listen we're following Christ it's not guaranteed to be easy it's not guaranteed to be Rosy all the time but what we should have is the faith that Jesus who is with us who's in the boat with us knows what the outcome of the storm is and he understands he's still in control he still knows what direction we're supposed to go and we need to rely on that our faith our fear should turn into faith we should look back at Christ and be like Christ I don't understand what's going on I just don't but I don't need to God if you just give me some peace about what's happening if you can give me the strength to continue through to do your will what needs to be done that's where the disciples missed it that's where the disciples missed it so that's the thing right don't bring Christ into your storm actually ask him for help Philippians 4 6-7 says this do not be anxious about anything again it's telling you not to fear but here it says why but everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving let your request be made known to God and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus notice that what it says is but in everything prayer and supplication let your request be made know to God verse 7 and it will be answered exactly as you want it to be no no it doesn't say that doesn't we kind of cut off those verses right we kind of cut off those verses and verse of the day which is Pastor Jean's like pet peeve man it's mine too because I see these verses and I'm like that is not what that verse says like I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me like I can do all things is what it's cut down to now that's not what that verse says it doesn't say I can do all things it says I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me like I I get it I love the athlete that brought that to the Forefront but when we started applying I can do all things to human sports like that's not what the Bible is telling us unless it's through Christ but we miss this sometimes because here's the deal again we like to think oh do not be anxious about anything but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving let your request be known made let your requests be Nam known to God end of verse of the day we just let our we just need to let our requests be known no the answer is and the peace of God which surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and Minds in Christ Jesus he's saying listen the answers may not be what you want it to be but I'm going to supply you with peace that I know the way that the storm is not a surprise to me and I still know we're getting to the other side that's what's supposed to be there right that peace of God why do we do all this stuff because God will calm the storm and he will show you a side you've never seen before so here's the thing right these disciples look at this they were filled with great fear and said one to another who then is this that even the Wind and Sea obey him who then is this that even the Wind and Sea obey him think about this again they saw somebody raised from the dead and yet all he does I mean I got to think in the hierarchy of Miracles seeing a dead guy come back like there's nothing that tops that right like dude that guy was gone he's back no they saw Jesus simply calm the Seas and push away the wind and they're in great awe and fear about who Jesus is they're like who is this it's amazing what happens when God provides us with that peace that we just talked about and we look at Christ and we're like man listen Christ did it again he's faithful I can't believe I got through that I can't believe that I handled it that way thank you God I never thought I would have been able to get through that have you ever thought about that in a situation in life you come through have you ever look back and like thank you God thank you here's the deal when it gets down to it this is what I believe right again evangelism the way we handle storms in life impacts the other the ways other people view Christ think about it we're sitting here today we're in a room today and can you imagine if if somebody was peeking in and they're unsaved and they're on the outside there's there's glass all the way around we can't see them and they're watching us and we're giv this great message about how God provides a peace that surpasses all understanding and he we know we have eternal love we have an eternal home we have an eternal Helper and we have all these things that should be providing us with a guidance and a peace when we go through things in life can you imagine they see that they've seen it and then they see how we deal with things in life can you imagine what the thought process would be if they see us in the middle of our own Storm sitting there bailing out our own water be like I don't know why this is happening to me I can't believe this is going on I don't know what's going on Jesus where you at why aren't you helping we're going to die I'm going to die here and can you imagine they're looking at us going I what I what is worth it I mean it can't be worth it look they're do they're reacting the same way I do we're supposed to be different we're supposed to be set apart we're supposed to be the example listen this is this is our this is our guidelines these are our rules these are what we follow for Christianity do you realize people don't usually read this until they come to Christ if you handed this to a lost person hey man I want you to read this come back to me and like 12 months it's not going to happen right what do they read they read us we're a book how we react to what's going on in our life how we react to Christ being with us sets the stage it gives an example if makes people go I want what they have I want what they've got because if I was going through that I'd be freaking out right now I would be so worried that I couldn't handle this situation but they look so calm they look so peaceful like they have an understanding of something that I don't I can't even imagine we're supposed to be that example and yet if we handle storms by our own by how we handle them normally or how we don't come to Christ they just look at us and go what's different what's different about you what is different about us first of all are we are we going through something today that we need to remember that Christ is with us that we need to be in prayer about are we going something today where we're handling it incorrectly and somebody's seeing it listen guilty we can ask for forgiveness to that today and and we can begin to change that right now it doesn't have to stay that way what how are we handling the storms in life are we like the disciples is our faith dwindling are we bailing out the boat are we blaming Christ or today are we recognizing the fact that Jesus is in the boat with us man that yes I can be anxious and yes it can cause me to stress but you know what God's got it handled so my reaction to it is all right Christ all right God I'm I don't want to do this but you've got this are we relying and having that kind of faith and setting the example so that others who are going through storms that have no hope that have no promise of Eternal home or a helper or a guide or believe they're unloved are we handling that to where they can look to us and see Christ that's it that's what it boils down to let's pray dear God thank you for today God just thank you for allowing us to come into your house today God we know that there's a lot going on um in the world today God I'd be remissed if I didn't mention that but God I I just ask that you be with us during this time be with our world not just our country but be with our world as we see things on television that we don't quite understand we don't quite know what's happening or why it's happening but God we know that you are know what's happening you knew it was going to happen before it even happened God so I'd ask today that as we leave this place you provide us with a peace you provide us with an understanding and that God as we go throughout our week as we handle these storms that come up in life that we rely on you God that we that we don't start bailing out the boat but we go to ask you for help first God I lift up anybody right now that's going through something in life that they're just it's just devastating their life God I'd ask today that you provide them with a just a understanding and a peace and God that they would have a yearning to come to you about it after today God for all these things we ask in your name honor and glory