When the Storm Rages
Rev. Jonathan Morales Preached on 11/8/2026
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Summary
Rev. Jonathan Morales explores the account of Jesus walking on water to remind believers that while storms are inevitable and exhausting, Jesus is always watching and standing within reach. The sermon encourages shifting focus from the raging waves to the Savior who walks upon them, inviting us to come to Him even before the wind ceases.
Key points
- •Being in a storm does not equate to being outside of God's will; sometimes Jesus constrains us to enter the boat knowing the storm is coming.
- •Storms tend to shrink our world down to the size of the problem, but Jesus sees our 'toiling and rowing' even when we cannot see Him.
- •Jesus uses the very thing that threatens us (the waves) as His sidewalk; what is over our heads is always under His feet.
- •Peter's 'little faith' was still enough to get him out of the boat; the goal is not just a calm sea, but to be where Jesus is.
- •We often wait for the storm to cease before we worship, but the disciples found a new revelation of Jesus as the Son of God while still wet in the boat.
Scripture
Faith
Trials
Perseverance
Worship
Hope
Life application
This week, instead of waiting for your difficult circumstances to change before you pray or serve, practice 'walking on the water' by choosing one specific act of worship or obedience in the midst of your current trial. Cry out the three-word prayer 'Lord, save me' whenever the waves feel overwhelming.
Reflection questions
- What 'storm' in your life right now is shrinking your perspective and making it hard to see God?
- In what ways have you felt like you are in the 'fourth watch' (the point of total exhaustion) recently?
- Are you waiting for a calm sea before you fully trust God, or are you willing to step out of the boat while the wind is still boisterous?
- How does the truth that Jesus is 'already within arm's reach' change your approach to your current anxiety?
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Full transcript
0:00love you Jesus. you Jesus
0:04thank you for touching my life thank you for touching my heart thank you for
0:10being here today God move mightily in this house oh Lord Jesus God let our
0:15praises go up go up, O Lord, as incense before you today, God, and
0:21let your spirit come down into this place. Let your spirit come down
0:27into this place and minister unto us, God. Move in this place, O
0:33God. Speak to the hearts of your people today in the name of
0:39Jesus, in the name of Jesus. Oh, come on. Give a hand clap
0:45of praise. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Praise the Lord praise the Lord hallelujah I'm so
0:50thankful to be in the house of God with each and every one of you
0:55this morning What an honor and a privilege to be here to see each and
1:00every one of you here on behalf of pastor and sister realms Who are not
1:05here this morning? I want to welcome you and thank you for being here today
1:09for calling this place your home if you're looking for a church this place has
1:14been home for me this place has been a sanctuary to me and
1:20In many families and many individuals in this place, this has been
1:26a sanctuary, a safe place for them. Aren't you grateful for your
1:31pastoral leadership? I'm so grateful for Pastor and Sister Elms, for the
1:37pillar, the example that they are in South Florida. in the UPCI and
1:43the world as a whole, but we get them here in South Florida. And I'm
1:48so grateful to call them pastor. I'm grateful to call them close like family. And
1:53they've been awesome. They entrusted me here today to stand before you all. And I
1:58don't take that lightly. I don't take that lightly. In fact, when pastor usually asks
2:03me to speak, in fact, this is actually my first time preaching double church Sunday,
2:08as I call it. Previously we used to have only one service and then when
2:13we had two services on a Sunday we called it double church. But now double
2:18church Sunday is every Sunday now pretty much. And so it's my first time preaching
2:23two services and I don't take that lightly. Pastor comes up to this pulpit faithfully
2:28every single week, week in, week out, prepared with a fresh word, with the anointing
2:32of God ready to feed this flock. And I pray I can do it justice
2:37today. I pray that I can do exactly what it is that the Lord wants
2:42me to do this morning. Amen. So I thank you. We have honored each and
2:47every one of you guys for being here, for coming on a Sunday morning and
2:52bringing your praise unto God. Today I want to speak to you on the topic,
2:56on the title, When the Storm Rages. Can you say that with me? When the
3:00storm rages. So we get ready to be seated. Why don't we just lift up
3:05our hands and thank God one more time for being here and for moving in
3:09this place. Lord Jesus, I love you. Thank you, Lord God, for meeting us here
3:13today. Thank you for allowing us to experience your presence, your anointing this morning, God.
3:19I pray today Lord that as the word goes forth this morning God that it
3:24would fall on good soil Lord let this word impact me today God let this
3:28word impact this congregation today Lord that we have prepared the soils of our hearts
3:33and of our minds today God to receive the word of the Lord that is
3:38about to go forth God Lord Jesus we've been preparing it all week long in
3:43our own consecration and our own prayer and fasting times and in our own times
3:47reading the scriptures this week God we've been toiling the ground and preparing the soil
3:52for this moment right here oh Lord God so I pray today God let the
3:56word go forth oh God and let it fall on good soil today let it
4:00fall on the good soil of our hearts today God that we might be able
4:05to take it Apply it unto our lives and to allow it Lord to
4:11help us help us every single day That goes forth from here on
4:16out in the name of Jesus Christ. We pray and let everybody say
4:22amen Amen, you may be seated in Jesus name. Hallelujah Many of us
4:28have walked into this place Even this morning in the midst of a
4:34storm a storm Maybe you may not have told anybody about the storm.
4:40Maybe you told the select few about but undoubtedly There are many
4:45storms going on in this place this morning. Can we all at least attest
4:51to that fact this morning? We can agree? When we talk about storms, I
4:57mean, we live in South Florida. We know a little bit about storms. In
5:03fact, I mean, even this past week, we saw torrential downpours, I mean, for days
5:08and days on end. The rain just seemed to never stop. It just kept coming,
5:12kept coming. All of the water was just filling up. I saw places where pools
5:17were complete. It was like they got a free infinity pool for just a few
5:22days. Pools were just overflowing. I always imagine that one guy who always puts his
5:26hose in his pool just because it went right below that tile line that he
5:30wants it at. He puts his hose in his pool, fills it up, and then
5:34all of a sudden the rain comes. So that's the way it always works. I
5:38don't have a pool just yet, but in Jesus' name, I'll have a pool in
5:42my next house. But that's the way it seems to always happen. but the rain
5:47just never stopped this past week i mean the sidewalks became streams the parking lots
5:52became ponds i mean all of these places were just over flooded it was unbelievable
5:58there were catfish in the in the parking lots Literally the lake right here, the
6:03pond was coming all the way up to the sidewalk over here. I drove past
6:07it. I take Callaway to school back here and I went down the dirt road
6:11and as soon as I got to the end of the dirt road, it was
6:15like, I mean, up to your shins driving through that trying to get into the
6:20school. Parents were pulling up into the middle of this river because the water was
6:24literally flowing. It was unbelievable. Take their socks and shoes off and they're shin deep
6:28walking their kids into school. it was crazy i even saw videos in palm bay
6:32where we were just at a week and a half ago it was unbelievable and
6:36i'm praying for palm bay that the water pulls back and that there's as little
6:41damage as possible and that they recover quickly in jesus name but there were videos
6:45in palm bay where cars were floating away down the roads and and it was
6:49just filling up and filling up and there was literally intersections where we drove through
6:53when we were at wins conference where there were tarpon swimming in the middle of
6:57the road Unbelievable, giant fish. Just, I mean, if I were there, I'd be, you
7:03know, casting, trying to catch one, or maybe jumping on one, trying to hang on
7:08for dear life. Tarpon in the roads. There were alligators in the grass where sidewalks
7:14normally were. It's unbelievable, crazy rains. And I mean, don't even get me started on
7:19hurricanes. I mean, we're almost out of hurricane season. We're getting there in Jesus' name.
7:25Another year without storms in Jesus' name. At least for South Florida, I know there's
7:30been others. But you know how it goes. Somebody on the news, somebody on TV
7:34says the word cone, and all of a sudden everything just starts going crazy. It's
7:39like that's the secret code word that once the word cone is said, Publix's everywhere
7:44start getting crazy. It's like a beacon, like a call. You say cone and everyone
7:49shows up. and the waters start disappearing and and dasani is still there of course
7:55because nobody likes dasani water for some reason when you crack open a dasani it
8:00goes why explain explain there should be no carbonation in my dasani water so it's
8:06going to stay there and and it's it's basically you know what i think dasani
8:11flourishes when the rain comes because they just scoop it up off of the sidewalks
8:16and just tie it you know close it up real good But the Dasani is
8:22still there. The rest of the water is gone. The bread is gone. There's peanut
8:27butter and jelly, gone. Toilet paper, gone. Who's going to the bathroom more during a
8:32storm? It's a normal amount of bathroom going on. In fact, there's less food or
8:37water. We're all panicked. So I'm not using toilet paper if I don't have to.
8:43Toilet paper, all gone. Somehow, though, you look at the sub counter and there's a
8:48line. Because if we are going down, we're going down with a Pub Sub.
8:54We're going down with a chicken tender, Pub Sub, maybe a little bit of buffalo
8:58on top, a little bit of ranch on the side. They toss it. You got
9:03to toss it. Okay. You got to toss it with a little bit of ranch.
9:07I put a little bit of ranch on top. You get your Pub Sub, your
9:11storm's coming. You grab a sweet tea or a lemonade on the way out. You're
9:16good to go. This is South Florida. And for about a week, when you hear
9:20about a storm, it's about all that anyone can talk about. You go to work,
9:25it's the storm. You're at the gas station, little screens, it's the storm. You call
9:29your mom, it's the storm. You're refreshing the app, you're refreshing the NHC website, two
9:33o'clock in the morning just to see if that cone moves just a little bit.
9:37Like we all become meteorologists and now we all understand that when the cone moves
9:41just slightly, we're like, uh-oh, here we go. Then it moves that way or it
9:45gains two miles an hour faster or slower. We're like, oh, we know what's gonna
9:49happen now. None of us have any clue, nobody does. But we're refreshing at two
9:53o'clock in the morning because it's all that we can see. It's all that we
9:57can think about. Amen. I mean, are there any parents in the room that can
10:02attest to the fact that maybe before kids, storms were really no big deal? I
10:06mean, we would definitely board up the windows or close the shutters or hang your
10:10shutters, whatever it was. And you go get a few supplies, no big deal. Make
10:14sure you got a little bit of gas. You're good to go. You're golden. Not
10:18a problem. If the power goes out, start up the generator, turn on the grill,
10:22make some eggs or whatever. Not a huge deal. And then when the cone or
10:26the eye comes over your neighborhood, you walk outside. And you take a look around,
10:30you go, wow, this is nice. It's nice and calm. A few trees are down,
10:34nice puddles. And we just walked around. We've done it before. I've done it before.
10:38For some reason, after you have kids, everything seems to get crazier or bigger. I
10:42don't know. But that's just the way it happens. Once we have kids, at least
10:46this is how it was for us. We had kids and then all of a
10:51sudden we felt like the storm was going to be a lot bigger than it
10:55was. We didn't have to worry about just ourselves anymore. We had to
11:01worry about other people, other little creatures. We're concerned. Do we have enough food now?
11:06Do we have enough formula, diapers and wipes? Because they're definitely going to poop more
11:12during the storm. I don't know why. All these questions are just going on in
11:18our minds. It's overwhelming. Every single thought is We're anxiously awaiting every single
11:24update and every conversation becomes about it. Every prayer becomes about it. It's
11:30exhausting physically and mentally. But here's what I've learned. The storms on the
11:35outside, we see them coming. We get a cone. You get a warning.
11:41You even get a Channel 7 news guy who's holding on to the light post
11:47in the middle of the night, pretending to blow away when the storms are coming
11:53because the storm's on its way. And you look outside and it's not even moving.
11:58We get that guy outside telling us the storm is coming. But the storms of
12:04life, you don't get that. There's no Channel 7 news guy. You just get a
12:10phone call, a diagnosis, a letter. a text, a phone, they say we need
12:15to talk. And just like that, the storm becomes all you can see. When
12:21the storm rages, it takes over. It becomes all that you can see. But
12:27today, I hope to express to you and to portray to you that there's
12:33somebody who's coming, walking on that water in the middle of the storm. So
12:39let me set the scene here. We read the scriptures already in Matthew 14,
12:45but this was one of the longest days that the disciples had had.
12:51Jesus, earlier in the chapter, gets word his cousin John the Baptist was murdered,
12:57beheaded, and so he departed away into a desert. He wanted to go away,
13:03be by himself, but the people, they followed him. Thousands and thousands of people
13:08followed them, and instead of sending them away, Matthew 14 said he was moved
13:14with compassion on them, and he healed their sick. and then that
13:20same evening they were hungry and they didn't go away and jesus could have said
13:25all right i did what you wanted me to do go away but now they're
13:31all hungry and a little boy offers up his lunch five loaves and two small
13:37fish and about 5 000 men the scripture said and women and children some some
13:43accounts say maybe seven eight nine thousand people were there in that moment everybody eats
13:49everybody The disciples had 12 baskets full, 12 baskets of leftovers
13:54that they were carrying around. A Costco amount of groceries carrying the leftovers
14:00around. That was probably the equivalent of like five, $600 worth of groceries
14:06that they were carrying around, at least in today's day. I went to
14:11Publix last night. I got bananas. I got the pizza that they were
14:17buying, getting free. The kids didn't eat either of them.
14:23I got some jammy sammies because those are a staple. Gotta get those for the
14:29kids. I got tea bags that were also buy one get one free. And one
14:34other thing, I think it was about eight items in total, $85. And I saved
14:40$20 with the bogos. So 12 baskets full would have been a small inheritance of
14:45leftovers that they were carrying around and the disciples are looking at each other like,
14:51did you see, did you, did you see what he just did?
14:57they're on a high it was an amazing service they just had and then
15:03this miracle in verse 22 after it all says and straight away Jesus constrained
15:08them constrained his disciples to get into a ship constrained constrained that's a strong
15:14word this basically means that Jesus he didn't suggest to them hey you know
15:20why don't you guys get on this boat sail it across the way I'll meet
15:26you on the other side no no no he was pushing them on and said
15:29get on the ship get on the ship meanwhile there's four fishermen in this group
15:33and they're like I don't really like what that cloud's doing over there and Jesus
15:37is like get on the ship get on the ship and sail to the other
15:41side go this wasn't a suggestion he put them on the boat and I pray
15:45that we can catch this this morning because if we catch this and I pray
15:49that I can convey it properly I believe it's going to change the way we
15:52view the storms in our lives The disciples didn't end up in the storm because
15:57they backslid. They didn't end up in the storm because they disobeyed. They ended up
16:02in the middle of the sea, in the middle of a storm, because Jesus told
16:07them to get into that boat. Being in a storm does not mean you're outside
16:11of the will of God. It could very well mean you're right exactly where he
16:16wants you to be. Some of us, and I'll be the first
16:22one to say, we have bad theology when it comes to storms. We think, man,
16:26if I'm going through this, what did I do? How did I mess up? What
16:31did I miss? What was God trying to tell me? Is he trying to get
16:35my attention? God must be mad at me. And sometimes, yes, okay? We do make
16:40our own beds and we have to lie in it. There are consequences to the
16:44actions that we take. Sometimes, for sure, the storm could very well be our own
16:49doing. Jonah, in fact, was in the middle of a storm because he was running
16:54away from God. He was in the middle of the... He just... He was stuck.
17:00Sorry. You can be right where he told you to be and still be in
17:05the middle of a storm. We can pray. We can pay our tithes, come to
17:10every service, worship in the front, stand up on this platform, preach from here, play
17:15an instrument, greet in the back, stay... We're baptized. People teach Bible studies and still
17:20end up in the middle of a storm. But if he put you in the
17:26boat... and he knows exactly where that boat is, he knows
17:32exactly where you are. I'll say it again. If he puts you in the
17:37boat and he knows exactly where the boat is, then he knows exactly where
17:43you are and what you need. Amen. Verse 24, but the
17:49ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves, for the wind
17:54was contrary. They were in the middle of the sea, the midst, not close to
17:59the shore that they left, not quite to the destination of where they're going. They're
18:04in the middle. The Gospel of John says they rowed their boat about five and
18:1020 or 30 furlongs. It was about three and a half miles out, three and
18:15a half miles from here. I could not imagine the In fact, three and a
18:20half miles driving down Pines Boulevard is about 359,000 miles. If I look at the
18:26map and it's more than three miles or so from my house, that's way too
18:31far. Unless I'm going, I don't know, maybe towards sunrise. But going down Pines or
18:37east towards the beach, I'm not doing it. It's way too far. But they're three
18:42and a half miles out. Too far to turn back. Not close enough to see
18:47where they're going. I mean, there's people in here this morning that know
18:53exactly what that middle feels like. You can't go back to how it was. You
18:59can't seem to see what it's going to look like when it's finished. You're just
19:04stuck in the middle, tossed with the waves. The wind was contrary. Contrary just means
19:10it's blowing against you. you're rowing you're rowing you're rowing for minutes on end and
19:16you end up 50 feet backwards you're not going anywhere in fact you're going backwards
19:21you're taking five step forward and 15 steps backwards you're working hard and going nowhere
19:27you ever felt that way you're doing everything right but the wind is in your
19:32face so here's the thing about the storm on the water in the middle of
19:38the night it's all you can see you can't see anything else you can't see
19:44the shore that you just came from You can't see the destination of where you're
19:49going. You can't see the shoreline over there. You can't see the mountain where Jesus
19:54is praying. All you can see is that next wave that's coming. The next wave
19:59that's about to crash. The rain that's falling. The lightning that's flashing. The storm, all
20:03it does is it shrinks down your whole world to the size of your problem,
20:08to the size of the vessel you're on. you wake up it's the
20:14first thing you think about you go to bed it's the last thing you think
20:19about you're in a meeting at work your body is physically there but your mind
20:24is is in the boat you're at dinner with your family and and they say
20:29did you hear what i just said you don't because you're in the middle of
20:34the sea when the storm rages it's it's all that you can see all you
20:39can think about it engulfs you until you start to wonder am i even i've
20:44been there this week i felt like i was even still there maybe you're in
20:49that boat today So let me tell you what happens next. The fourth watch.
20:55Verse 25 tells us about the fourth watch. In the fourth watch of the night,
21:00Jesus went unto them. The Romans divided the night into four watches. The first watch
21:06is 6 to 9 p.m. Second watch is 9 to midnight. The third watch, midnight
21:11to 3, and the fourth watch was 3 in the morning to 6 in the
21:17morning. They got in the boat when the evening was come, 6 p.m.,
21:23which we know is basically midnight here in South Florida now. I don't understand. Somebody's
21:28lying about this one-hour time change. It used to get dark about 7.15, 7.30. Now,
21:345.15, and the sun is gone. I don't know who's lying. Someone is lying. But
21:39they got in the boat when the evening had come. this means that
21:45by this time when jesus shows up they've been rowing for hours six hours
21:50seven hours eight hours maybe more all night fighting the wind their hands are
21:56blistered and bleeding their backs are on fire they're exhausted arms are shaking these
22:02are strong men some of these men were fishermen they do they know this
22:07water they know how to navigate storms peter andrew james john They're exhausted.
22:13And if the professionals are worn out, you're worn out too. Three o'clock in the
22:19morning. Some of us here know about that three o'clock in the morning. It's when
22:25everything feels worse. Everything feels heavier. The bills seem bigger at three o'clock in the
22:31morning. The diagnosis seems scarier at three o'clock in the morning. The silence in the
22:37house is louder at three o'clock in the morning. Nobody's going to text you back
22:43at three o'clock in the morning. Nobody's going to call you at three o'clock in
22:49the morning. It's just you and the storm. And
22:54that's when he came. Not in the first watch, not in the second watch, not
23:00even in the third watch, in the fourth watch, when they had nothing left, when
23:06they thought we are not going to make it. And some of us here today
23:12have been praying, Lord, why didn't you show up when I first asked? Why didn't
23:17you come in the first watch or even in the second watch, God? I've been
23:23praying, God, just show up out in the third watch of the night. All I
23:29can tell you, he may not show up early. but he
23:35definitely will not be late and he always shows up on time. He
23:41may not show up early, but he absolutely will not be late and
23:46will definitely show up right on time. He's always on time. He shows
23:52up in the fourth night and the fourth watch is right before the
23:58morning. So now if we go to Mark chapter six quickly, Mark chapter
24:04six tells us the same story, but Mark gives us a couple details
24:10that Matthew left out. And it says, and he saw them toiling and rowing
24:16for the wind was contrary unto them. And about the fourth watch of the night,
24:21he cometh unto them walking upon the sea and would have passed by them. He
24:26saw them toiling and rowing. Mark 6, 47, the verse prior says, he alone on
24:31the land, speaking of Jesus. So Jesus is in the mountain on the land. It's
24:36dark. They're miles out on the water. They're dealing with the winds and the waves.
24:42And the scripture tells us he saw them.
24:47He saw them. The disciples couldn't see Jesus in that moment, but he
24:53saw them. He knew exactly where they were. The whole night they're thinking
24:59they're alone. They're all by themselves out there. Every stroke of the oar,
25:04every thought, where is he? He sent us out here. Has he abandoned
25:10us? The whole time he was watching, every wave, every blister, all the
25:16pain, every time they wanted to give up, he saw them.
25:22You may not see him in your storm, but he has never once lost sight
25:27of where you are. Our storms are not hidden from him. The thing that we're
25:32carrying in this room, some people may not even know about it. Jesus knows. He
25:38sees you toiling. Those nights where you're sitting in the car and you're weeping and
25:43crying out to God because you don't want to go in and let the kids
25:48or let your family members see you struggling. He sees you in that car. He
25:54sees you. He sees you in the middle of the night when you get up
26:00to pray and you're weeping and crying out to him. He sees you there. Every
26:05time you're struggling, he sees you. Every time you show up to this building and
26:11you put on a brave face, you walk through these doors, you're greeting people, praying
26:16with people, hugging people, smiling. He sees you. All the while you're struggling, he sees
26:22you toiling in the rowing. Then Mark says something else that was strange. It and
26:27he would have passed by them someone said it sounds like jesus was getting ready
26:33to leave them out there but that's the same language that the bible uses in
26:39exodus 34 when moses was was asking to see god's glory and it says and
26:44the lord passed by before him and the lord revealed his his mighty arm yet
26:50jesus wasn't ignoring them he was getting ready to show them who he really is
26:58Matthew 14, 25, going back, Jesus went unto them walking on the sea.
27:03He was walking on the sea. The very waves that were trying to
27:09kill them, Jesus is walking on top of. The thing that kept them
27:15up all night long was trying to take their lives away from them.
27:20He's using it as a sidewalk. It's under his feet. What threatened them
27:26was under his feet. What's threatening you is under his feet. The
27:32sickness is under his feet. The debt, it's under his feet. The addiction
27:38is under his feet. The depression, the broken marriage, the prodigal child, it's
27:44under his feet. It's over your head. I know that. I've dealt with
27:50it, but it's under his feet. This isn't just some cool story. This
27:56is a revelation. Job 9.8 talks about this. God, which alone
28:02spreadeth out the heavens, treadeth upon the waves of the sea alone. Only one
28:07walks on the waters of the sea. One spread out the heavens and then
28:13he robed himself in flesh and he came walking on the waves. The creator
28:19came to his creation walking on the waves. Verse 26,
28:25when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, it
28:31is a spirit. And they cried out for fear. But verse 27, straight away,
28:37Jesus spake unto them, saying, be of good cheer. It is I. Be not
28:43afraid. Right away. He let them stay scared. He didn't play like, you know,
28:49peekaboo behind the waves, trying to spook them. Immediately he speaks and he says,
28:55it is I. notice he didn't say be of good cheer
29:01waves wind be calm be of good cheer don't worry i'm about to make
29:07this all okay the wind was still blowing the waves were still crashing the
29:12lightning was still flashing nothing about the storm had changed yet all that changed
29:18is now he was there and a lot of times before he changes our
29:24situations his presence shows up his presence shows up and if his presence shows
29:30up anything can happen They
29:36sang about it when he walks into the room sickness starts to vanish anything
29:42can happen when he walks into the room. It is I is what he
29:47said in the Greek that phrase is ego Amy and I looked it up
29:53with the phonetic spelling and I put it in here. So I didn't mess
29:59it up. Ego Amy it literally translates to I am he said it is
30:05I ego Amy I am and then we go back to the burning bush
30:10in Exodus 3:14. This is the same translation, ego, Amy. And God said
30:16unto Moses, I am that I am. That same I am that spoke out
30:22of the burning bush was now standing on the water saying, Amy, it is
30:28I. Not afraid. This is not some ghost. This is not some spooky story.
30:33It is I. It is God. I am here. I am with you. His
30:39presence comes before the change. And sometimes his presence is the change. Because
30:45once you know it's him, the storm doesn't have the same voice anymore. It's not
30:51quite as loud as it used to be. Once the creator shows up, everything else
30:57kind of deafens down a little bit. Isaiah 43.2 said it like this.
31:03when thou passes through the waters i will be with thee and through the rivers
31:08they shall not overflow thee when thou walkest through the fire thou shall not be
31:14burned neither shall the flame kindle upon me he said when he didn't say if
31:20if you pass through the waters and and if you go through the fires and
31:25he said when when when you pass through the waters He never promised me
31:31wouldn't go through trials or through the waters. He promised when you do, I'll be
31:37there. So verse 28, here comes Peter. Good old Peter. Of course it's Peter. Every
31:42boat has got one guy who's willing to do something that nobody else is willing
31:48to do. We've been out on the boat a few times and every time we
31:53go out there, it seems like we do at least one really dumb thing. One
31:59time we went out on a boat, we found a cliff, we climbed up, we
32:04jumped off. Someone broke a vertebrae in their back. Not a great idea. It was
32:10still a blast. Another time, we went out on the boat, and we're driving, and
32:14it just, we're just, you know, the water looks really good. It's kind of hot.
32:18Just jump in while we're driving. Just come and get me. And I did that
32:23once, and I'll never do it again. Because when I jumped in, I was like,
32:27this feels really nice. And then immediately, I started thinking about all the creatures that
32:32are looking up at me. The ocean is the scariest place in the world. Cannot
32:36convince me otherwise. Everything is just looking up at my feet, dangling. What can it
32:42do to get to me? I'm terrified. Get me immediately, please. Panicked. Probably the most
32:48panicked. It's the open ocean and I feel so claustrophobic. But it's always one guy
32:54willing to do something somebody else would never do. Peter says, Lord, if it be
32:59thou, bid me to come to thee on the water. Peter doesn't say, Lord, if
33:05it's you, make the storm stop. Lord, if it's you, calm the waves. Lord, if
33:11it's you, at least cut the wind down so we can make our way through
33:17it. He doesn't say, Lord, if it's you, get in the
33:23boat. He said, Lord, if it's you, bid me to come to thee
33:29on the water. Peter figured something out. If it's really Jesus out there,
33:35then that's the safest place to be. Even if it's out on the
33:41water in the midst of the storm. Even if it's out in the
33:46middle of the waves. In verse 29, Jesus says one word, come. He
33:52didn't say, come, the storm is over. He didn't say, come, wind cease.
33:58He said, come. This
34:04is the word I pray we receive today. A lot of times we keep praying,
34:09Lord, stop the storm. Lord, remove me from the storm. And there are times that
34:14he does. Yes. Psalm 107 tells us he maketh the storm a calm so that
34:19the waves thereof are still. In Mark chapter four, even he was laying asleep in
34:25the back of the boat and the disciples were terrified in the midst of the
34:30storm. And they wake up Jesus and said, do you not care that we're about
34:35to die? And Jesus stands up and says, "Peace, be
34:41still." Calms the storm immediately. He can do that. He has done that.
34:46He can still do that. But there are other times, and sometimes, some
34:52days I feel like I'm in the midst of this, where he doesn't
34:57stop the storm. He steps into it and he says, "Walk with me.
35:03Will you walk with me?" The storms and the waves, they may not
35:09cease, but he's asking us to walk with him. Some of us here
35:14today are waiting for the storm to be over. before we start walking
35:20with god again man if this situation could just get settled i'll i'll get back
35:25in the church or when the money is right i'll i'll start tithing and giving
35:30my offerings again just need to get get through this i'll start praying again and
35:36or when the diagnosis is clear i'll start worshiping again all the while jesus is
35:41standing in the midst of the waves saying Don't wait for it to calm. Come,
35:46come now, come now, come quickly, walk with me, come to me and I will
35:52walk you through it. At the end of verse 29, Peter was come down out
35:58of the ship. He walked on the water to go to Jesus. He didn't get
36:03out of the boat to get on the water and to say to the disciples,
36:09look at what I'm doing. This wasn't a popularity contest for Peter. He wanted to
36:15go to Jesus, but he got out of the boat. How? How? how did he
36:21get out of the boat it's not because the water became solid in that moment
36:26it's not because the wind stopped it's not because the waves got less it's because
36:31when he stepped out of the boat the word of the lord was enough to
36:37stand on and sometimes we're looking for a word from god we're looking for for
36:42a firm foundation in the midst of the storm and we're asking god to give
36:47us something all the while it's in his word For
36:53whatever reason, me included in opening up the scriptures to find an
36:59answer seems to be the last place that we go. All the
37:04while, his word is that firm foundation that we can stand on.
37:10The word come was enough of a foundation for Peter to stand
37:16on in that storm. I want a calm sea. Please believe me.
37:22I'd rather have a calm sea. But if I'm learning, I'd rather
37:27have Jesus in a storm than the calm sea without him.
37:33I would rather have Jesus in a raging storm than have a calm sea
37:39without him. Verse 30, when he saw the wind, Peter was boisterous. He was
37:45afraid and beginning to sink. He cried, Lord, save me. He saw the wind
37:51boisterous. Did anything change? The waves were still the same. The rains were still
37:57the same. He took his eyes off of Jesus and put it onto the
38:03storm. And in that moment, the storm became all that he could
38:09see. Once again, he started to sink. The storm didn't get worse. The waves were
38:14boisterous when he stepped out of the sea, stepped out of the boat into the
38:20sea. The only thing that changed was his perspective. He took his eyes off of
38:26Jesus and started looking at the sea around him. It's not the storm that sinks
38:32us, church. It's when the storm becomes all that we can see.
38:38When we shift our perspective, that's when we begin to sink. And Peter, in that
38:42moment, he does the best thing he could do. He didn't try to fix it
38:47himself. He didn't try to swim back to the boat. He didn't try to just
38:51figure it out, tread water for as long as he could. He prays one of
38:55the shortest prayers in the scripture. Lord, save me. and a lot of times for
39:01some reason we think man i've got to have the right words to say i've
39:06got to have the the perfect prayer to pray i've got to have some eloquent
39:11words some some some speech a poem almost to pray unto god to ask him
39:15to come and save me and the scripture is telling us just say these three
39:20words these three words that jesus always responds to lord save me
39:26he always responds to a heart that's desperate for him for a
39:31heart that's crying for help he always responds to that he has
39:37compassion his prayer has never failed and immediately immediately immediately jesus stretched
39:42forth his hand and caught him not after a lecture not after
39:48a long pause not after he went under two three times immediately
39:54the scripture says jesus didn't have to run to get to peter
39:59either Doesn't say that after he said, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus started
40:05making his way to Peter to save him out of the storm. No, he didn't
40:11have to swim out farther to get to Jesus to get rescued. Jesus just stretched
40:16out his hand and pulled him up out of the waves, which means the entire
40:22time that Peter was walking, Jesus was already closer than he ever thought. Jesus was
40:28close enough to reach him the moment he started sinking. When you start
40:34to sink church, believe me, Jesus is closer than you could ever imagine. He's
40:39as close as the mention of his name. He's sticking closer than a brother.
40:45And when you cry out to him, he immediately responds with his hand of
40:51mercy, ready to pull you up out of where you are. He's never more
40:56than an arm's reach away. Hebrews 13, five tells us, for he had said,
41:02I will never leave thee nor forsake thee. Never. When you're walking, he's
41:08there. When you're sinking, he's there. When you're crying out, he's there. When you're on
41:13the mountaintop, he's there. When you're in the valley, lo, he's there. When you're in
41:18the in the pastures he's there when you're traversing up he's there when you're on
41:23your way downward he's there when you're in the meeting and you need him he's
41:29there when you're at the bank and you need a little extra he's there when
41:35you're crying out asking God to send clients or contracts he's there he's there he's
41:40always there he will never leave you nor forsake you he's already there
41:47the bible says he caught him that means jesus peter didn't have to grab jesus
41:52jesus already grabbed him it's not about how strong your grip is it's about how
41:57strong his grip is he'll never let go of you and then jesus says oh
42:02thou of little faith wherefore didst thou doubt and a lot of times and i'm
42:07guilty of this we think in this moment jesus is fussing at peter and trying
42:12to teach him a lesson maybe maybe there's a little bit of correction there but
42:17he said little faith he didn't say no faith It was little faith that got
42:23Peter out of the boat. It was little faith that got him to walk on
42:28water. Little faith cried out, Lord, help me. Little faith is still faith. And little
42:34faith in a big God is enough to get you through the storm. Little faith
42:39in a big God is enough to get you walking on water. Little faith in
42:45a big God is enough to receive healing in the name of Jesus. Little faith
42:51in a big God is enough to receive salvation and restoration and healing. Jesus can
42:57do it. Peter's the one who gets corrected, yes, but Peter's the only one that
43:03got out of the boat. 11 men stayed in that boat, dry, safe, never sank,
43:09but Peter's the only one who stepped out. he was the only one that walked
43:15on water everyone wants to talk about peter sinking taking his eyes off of jesus
43:20but nobody else in the boat knows what it felt like to have that water
43:24under their feet only peter knew what it was like to be caught by the
43:29hand of god in the middle of a storm and i would rather sink with
43:33jesus in reach than to stay dry in the boat and never know what his
43:37hand felt like I would rather sink with Jesus close enough close by then
43:43to stay on dry land and never have experienced the touch of God in
43:49my life. Verse 32 when they were come into the ship. I don't believe
43:55Jesus took Peter threw him over the shoulder and threw him into the ship.
44:01I don't think he had to carry him like a sack of potatoes.
44:08It says they were coming to the ship. I believe Peter walked back hand in
44:14hand with Jesus on that water through the storm on that same water. Verse 32
44:19says, when they were coming to the ship, the wind ceased. When did the wind
44:25cease? When Jesus got in the boat and not a moment before. In verse 33,
44:30then they that were in the ship came and worshiped him and said, of a
44:36truth, thou art the son of God. As if these men needed more convincing.
44:42Jesus they had this in the scripture for me because I need this sometimes I
44:48need to be reminded a few times these same men who just saw Jesus do
44:54this miracle just a few hours before feed over 5,000 people with five loaves and
45:00two fish these same people that saw Jesus heal miraculously the sick that were brought
45:05before him these same men now they're saying of a truth I know for sure
45:11now you are the son of God They knew
45:17he could multiply bread, but it took a storm for them to find out he
45:22could walk on water. It took a storm for them to fall down and say
45:26of a truth. And it's because there's some revelations we can only receive in the
45:31storm. We can know about him on a sunny day when the breeze is nice,
45:35but you really find out who he really is at three o'clock in the morning
45:40in the middle of the sea. Some of us know, and I know this might
45:45sound crazy, but one day we're going to thank God for the storms that we
45:51go through. Because the storm was good, not because we had fun in it, but
45:56because who we found in the storm. We're going to say, I know he's a
46:01healer because he healed me. I know he's a deliverer because he delivered me. I
46:06know he can restore marriages because he restored my marriage. I know he can bring
46:11salvation because he saved my family. I know he can provide because he provided for
46:16me. I know he can deliver because he delivered. This is who he is. We
46:21can sometimes only find out that in the midst of a storm, he's a way
46:25maker because he made a way for me. Not because I sang the
46:31song, but because he made a way for me. And the right response
46:37when Jesus, to a God who walks on the water, is worship. Not
46:43later. Not when we get to shore. Not a week later. In the
46:48boat, while you're still wet, soaked from the storm. Worship. They worshiped him
46:54right there. So as I get ready to come to a close, musicians
46:59come, let's all stand together. I don't know what you walked in here
47:05facing today. I don't know what you're carrying.
47:11I don't know what you're carrying on behalf of somebody else. Maybe it's a
47:17diagnosis and the waves are still high. He's saying come. Maybe it's your marriage
47:23and the wind is contrary. He said come. Maybe it's your kids. You've been
47:28toiling and rowing all night long praying for your son, praying for your daughter.
47:34You're tired. You're exhausted. He's saying come. Maybe it's your finances. Maybe it's your
47:40job. Maybe it's the anxiety that wakes you up in the middle of the
47:46night. It's all you can see. He's saying come. Maybe you walked away from
47:52God. You've been in the middle of the sea for so long
47:58you've forgotten what anything else looks like. You've forgotten the fact that he's
48:03still reaching for you. He sees you toiling. He's saying, "Come." The Lord
48:09is saying, "I see you. I saw you every single night. I saw
48:15every tear. I saw you rowing when nobody else knew you were even
48:20in the boat. I'm not asking you to wait for the storm to
48:26stop. In fact, it may not stop right now. The winds conference, a
48:32little over a week ago now, we prayed so desperately. for Cohen
48:38to be healed of his type 1 diabetes in Jesus name and Cohen was praying
48:43as hard as I've ever seen him pray regardless of what happens with his diagnosis
48:49that'll be a pillar in his life and a pillar in my life of the
48:55power of God you know when we left that service in full transparency I wanted
49:01to walk out of there and I wanted his his glucose to be steady and
49:06I wanted to not even have to give him insulin I wanted to just
49:12have steady numbers. It all throughout the first service when I was even coming to
49:18this part, I had 15 notifications of low glucose for Cohen. And to be frank,
49:24it seems like when we left Wynn's conference, it's been crazier. His numbers, his stability,
49:29it's been crazier since then. It feels like it's gotten worse.
49:37And you know, I can take that and in preparation for this sermon, it hit
49:43me with conviction because I thought, God, I can't preach this because I don't feel
49:49like I'm living this. I don't feel like I can tell other people to just
49:55make their way through the storm and to trust you that you've got it when
50:01I'm in the midst of a storm and I don't know how this is going
50:07to turn out. All I kept hearing God say was, walk with me, walk with
50:12me. You may not get a calm sea today. Walk with me.
50:18You may not get calm storms or easy roads. Walk with me. But what
50:24you can get is a hand and you can get a voice that says,
50:30come. Keep your eyes on him and come. So as we make our way
50:36towards the front this morning and these altars are open, if the storm has
50:42become all that you can see, come look at Jesus. If you've been rowing
50:48all night and you're tired, come. If you're sinking today, all you've got is
50:54three words. Lord, save me. He's there. His arm is already outstretched. If
50:59you've been waiting for the storm to calm down before you come back to the
51:05Lord, don't wait. He's asking you to come now. He's asking you to come now.
51:10If you've never repented of your sins and been baptized in the name of Jesus
51:16and filled with the gift of the Holy Ghost, you don't have to wait. Now,
51:21he's telling you to come. Get into the boat with Jesus. Step out of the
51:27boat. In faith towards Jesus. Come. If you've been holding on in
51:33the boat. You're worn out from the fourth night. Come and worship him
51:39in the middle of it. Because Jesus is coming on the waters. Why
51:44don't we pray right now. Why don't we seek his face. Why
51:50don't we consecrate it to the Lord, whatever it is, God. I'm going to
51:56come. I'm going to come, Lord. I will trust you, Lord. I'm going to
52:01walk out onto this storm, oh God, with you. With my eyes on you,
52:07Jesus. Trusting, Lord, that you've got it, oh Lord. I will trust you, Jesus.
52:13I will trust you, Jesus. I will trust you, Jesus.
52:19Always
52:35on
52:50time,
53:05always
53:21out
53:36there
53:51♪♪
54:24♪♪
54:57♪♪
55:32so