Lets open our Bibles up to the Book of Matthew, the fourteenth chapter. Were going to be very familiar with this passage of scripture before were through. Its our theme scripture for this series. Jesus had just finished performing a miracle, and He went off by Himself to pray. The disciples were on a boat in a lake and could not come back because of the storm that had arisen on the lake. Of course, its 3 oclock in the morning. Its nighttime, the wind is blowing, water is in their faces, and they dont recognize who is coming to them on the water. As a result, theyre very afraid. Peter does something incredible in this story, as well find out. Verse 23: But after He had dismissed them, He went to a mountainside by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone, but the boat was already a considerable distance from the land buffeted by the waves, because the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw Him walking on the lake, they were terrified. Its a ghost, they said, and they cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them, Take courage. It is I. Dont be afraid. Lord, if its you, tell me to come to you on the water. Come, He said. Then Peter got down from the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. When he saw the wind, he was afraid and began to sink and cry, Lord save me. Immediately, Jesus reached out His hand and caught him. You have little faith, He said, why did you doubt? When they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, Truly You are the Son of God, and Jesus received their worship. You know, if you were to poll the disciples as theyre watching Jesus walk on water, and ask, How many of you think Jesus would help you walk on water? Probably all of them would raise their hands. If you would have said, How many of you think if you fall and sink into the water, Jesus could save you? Probably all would raise their hands, Yeah, I believe that. But only one had the faith to get out of the boat, and that was Peter. We criticize him because he took his eyes off Jesus, and he sank, but only Peter knew what it was like to walk on water. Only Peter dared to go on just a belief and actually take action to his faith. Before we get into the meat of the word, were going to be listening to a media right now that our programming team has put together. Its a song by Petra called Beyond Belief (see last page for lyrics). Lets listen and reflect on that, and then Ill come back and begin sharing some of the Word. This morning, we want to remember Patricia Harris, Linda Smiths mom. She was a faithful listener of our churchs broadcast during the week. She went to be with the Lord this week, and Im told that if she missed the broadcast at 10 oclock at night, shed stay awake until one in the morning to watch it. She never missed it. She was a part of our congregation, so we dedicate the service to her this morning. I just want the folks at home to know that those who cant make it to church, sometimes this is their only church, we appreciate you and consider you a part of our body. Lets be remembering her family in prayer this week, shall we? On Water Walking: my son and I went to Key Largo and did a father/son dive trip. Were novice divers; we dont go deep. We dont dive in caves; we go simply just for recreation. It was a little risky that day because the sea was very choppy, very windy, and was full of high waves. The visibility was not as good as it normally was, but we were in Florida-we were there; we were going to dive. Some divers got seasick by the time they got out. They forgot the Dramamine; and by the time they got out there, they were already sick, so they couldnt dive. I remember getting on all my gear walking out with my big fins on, tank on which is kind of heavy and cumbersome. Youre walking out there, and the boats doing this (tilting back and forth). So youre walking out there with one step forward and two steps back, and you finally get to the edge. You know, when the waves were up, it didnt look that bad, but when the waves were down, it looked like it was a mile away down there. I remember thinking while looking at the boat that was rocking, At least I know its safe. I looked at the waves at thought, It looks violent down there. I know whats here, but I dont know whats down there. Here there is a bored captain; down there, there could be a shark. I tried to reassure myself by saying to the captain, Tell me. This part where were going to be diving, it is normal to see sharks? Are we going to see sharks? He paused and said these reassuring words, I cant say for sure if youre going to see a shark today, but I will tell you this: as soon as you get in the water, theyll see you. I appreciate that, makes me feel real good. I got up there and wanted to look back. I remember thinking, Do I have to do this? But my son was watching, so I had to step off and drop in there. I dont know what Im going to see, but here we go. You know what? No stories are told about what happens on the boat. Whats on the boat doesnt change. The captains there, a couple of seasick divers are there. Theres water as far as the eye can see doing this (waving-the waters choppy). Nothing changes; there are no stories to tell. But when you come out of the water, you say, Oh, I saw a shark, which my son did. I saw an eagle ray, which I saw. I saw an eel. I saw this. I saw that. You see the coral reef, and you see the colors and all these different kinds of fish, and you experience this different world. You come back, everybodys excited and were all saying, This is what I saw! Did you see this too? Thats where the stories are. Thats where the action is. Thats where the life is. Nobody gets up and talks about what happened on the deck of the boat when you were under the water. Nothing happened. The same is true in our faith. Its not in the boat. Its not in the realm of safety and familiarity where exciting things happen. Faith is when we dare to believe God and step out of our boat, out of our comfort zone, into the water. In the water is where Jesus is. Theres where faith is. Thats where the action is. Thats where the stories are told. Whats your boat this morning? All of us have different boats here today. A boat is something that you trust more than God or someone you trust in more than God. You say, What do you mean? Jesus said to Peter, Come. If Peter would have heard Jesus say come and then looked at the waves, listened to the wind, decided it was too risky, and stayed in the boat, what would that mean? That would mean he trusted the boat more than he trusted Jesus, right? So all of us have boats that we put our trust in from time to time. For some of you, its the boat of security. Maybe its your vocation, your job. Youve had a job for a long time, and if God were to call you to leave that job, that would just rock your world. Or maybe its your 401K or something else youre trusting in. Thats your next egg. Thats your protection. Its like the rich young man in the Books of Mark (10:17), Matthew (19:1), and Luke (16:18). Remember he said, What must I do to inherit eternal life? Jesus talked about obeying the commandments, and he says, All these, Ive kept from my youth. Jesus says, One think you lack. Sell what you have, give your money to the poor. Then you come and follow me. Get out of your boat! Dont trust in your riches. Trust in Me. Come on! Were going to go on an adventure, a life of faith. The response from the man was what? It says he walked away because he was very rich. That was where his trust was. That was where he had put his hope. That was his security. That was his boat, and he refused to leave it to follow Jesus. I wonder what he thought about that decision as years went by. For some of us, our boat is familiarity. We dont want to get out of the boat because its all we know. Its what were familiar with. The Book were studying right now, or using along with our study on faith, says, If you want to walk on water, thats a valid question, If you want to… A lot of people dont. Last call, when Jesus said, Come, only one stepped out of the boat, right? Eleven stayed behind. Not all of us want to walk on water. In the Gospel of John, the fifth chapter, theres a story of a man who was an invalid. Hes been an invalid for 38 years. He goes by the pool, and hes waiting for a miracle for thirty-eight years! Jesus comes upon the man, and we pick up the story in Verse 3. It says there at this pool a great number of disabled people used to lie-the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, and get this question, Do you want to get well? What kind of a question is that to ask a man who has been an invalid for 38 years? Dont you think thatd be a no-brainer? Wouldnt you think He would just know he wants to get well, that the desire of his heart would be to walk like a normal person, get a job like a normal person? Well, wait a second. Thats all he knew. That was his life for 38 years! That would be his life tomorrow; that would be his life next year; thats where he would die. Its all he knew. Maybe hed become accustomed to that because as soon as he starts to walk, he has joined the ranks of the unemployed. He has to get a job. He has to start supporting himself. So, Jesus asked a very valid question, Do you wish to get well or have you become accustomed to your handicap, this way of life? Its easy to do because were creatures of habit. Were people of familiarity. I remember when I felt the Lord leading me to leave the church I was at in Rockford. Id been a pastor in Rockford for almost eight years. Growing up in the church, Id had the same pastor since I was nine years old. Rockford was all I knew other than the time I went off to study and get my degree for the ministry. That was the only place I lived. My family was there: my mom, my sisters, my nieces, my wifes parents, her sister, friends since kindergarten, the church that we were familiar with, people we knew, a job we both loved, a new home we both loved. We were snug as a bug in a rug and did not want to leave that which was familiar. I know its very hard for you to conceive that somebody would actually not want to leave Illinois. I know what youre thinking, Thats not that hard! To leave Illinois? Come on! What does that scripture say? No good thing can come out of Rockford, but…I did. I didnt want to leave because it was what I knew. God kept saying, Get out of the boat! So I had to say, Am I going to trust in this boat, what is familiar, or am I going to step out in faith and obey God? So I stayed in Rockford to this day (congregation laughing). The third thing is serenity. People think their boat is serenity, and they dont leave it because in their boat is the peace of mind they want, the fulfillment they want for life. Heres the serenity that I need. They look for it in this boat that they have, a person or a thing, and they wonder why theyre always so empty and why theyre never fulfilled. Its because its not in the boat! Youre looking in the wrong place! They think, This is whats going to give me my significance. Its not. We were at the Grand Canyon last weekend, and we went to visit my wifes parents. We decided wed take a day to see the Grand Canyon. They said, Whatever you do, make sure you go to Hopi Point to watch the sunset. So we showed up about a half hour before the sunset, and we waited. About a quarter after, all these people started showing up with these cameras. We were looking at the sunset and thinking, Whats the big deal? It was kind of a cloudy day. If youve ever experienced a cloudy day…I know theyre rare around here. I tried to be optimistic when I came home because in Arizona, thered be a little cloud over here. A few miles over here, thered be another little cloud, but the rest of the sky was all blue. It was 75 degrees everyday. So, I came home and said, Back in Arizona there were three or four clouds. Here theres only one cloud, but it encompasses the entire sky and nevers go away, but its only one cloud. So, were watching the Grand Canyon sunset and thinking what is the big whoop? I mean, I can understand a sunset in Florida or Mexico where the sun meets the ocean, and its magnificent. In fact, Ive seen better sunsets at home. There really werent many colors. It was just kind of cloudy, and I wanted to say to all people with their cameras, You showed up on the wrong day because there really isnt a thing to see! Were sitting there. Im holding Brenda, and its kind of romantic. It was kind of fun while we were sitting there. The children were in the car because in that part of Arizona, its a little chilly. We were saying, Oh, this is nice. Its not what its cracked up to be, but its nice. All the sudden we notice all the cameras are sitting the opposite way were looking. Were looking at the sunset one way, and the cameras are facing the other way. And being the Sherlock Holmeses we are, finally after 20 minutes, we catch on and say, Wait a second. The sun starts to set; it shoots its rays across the Canyon and just lights up the canyon. The top of the rim became brilliant and alive with color, yellows and golds and browns, just like it was on fire, and we thought, Ohhh. Thats the sunset! Were looking in the wrong spot. Were looking over here. This is the spot. And its my prayer that thered be a realization for some of you whove been putting your trust in your boats to find your serenity, and all the sudden therell be a trigger, Ohhh. Its not in the boat! Im looking in the wrong spot. The glory of God is over here. Its stepping out in faith. Its in the water where Jesus is. So, for some of you its that serenity that youre hoping to find in what we call our figurative boats. For some of us, its familiarity; for others of us, its the security that we have. For most of us, do you know what keeps us in our boats? Anxiety. Fear. We get a case of the what ifs. Have you ever had a case of the what ifs before? What if this? What if that? I remember when I was going to leave Rockford, I had a case of the what ifs. I would wake up in the middle of the night and say, I am leaving what is familiar to go to work for a church that does not exist. What if nobody comes? What if I cant pay my bills? If nobody comes, we cant pay our bills. We lose our home; we lose our cars. What if I dont have what it takes to be a senior pastor of a church? What if I fail? Thats what I said, What if I fail? Then I would say, You know what? Ill never know unless we try. Pastor Ortberg in his book talks about failure. He talks about failure as not an event but rather a judgment about an event. He says about Peter failing because he sank, There were 11 bigger failures. They were the ones who never got out of the boat. Only Peter knew the glory of being lifted up by Jesus at that moment of desperate need. Peter knew in a way others could not that when he had sunk, Jesus would be wholly adequate to save him. He had shared a moment, a shared connection, a shared trust in Jesus that none of the others had. They couldnt because they didnt even get out of the boat. The worst failure is not to sink in the waves. The worst failure is to never get out of the boat. What cures the what ifs is a good dose of faith because the what ifs are contagious. Did you know that? If youve got a case of the what ifs, that can be contagious especially if youre a leader. If Im leading this church with a case of the what ifs, were in trouble. If youre leading your household with a case of the what ifs, youre in trouble. I remember we had a really high-strung lady in Rockford. She was heading our pre-school, and she was nervous about everything. I can remember her just like yesterday. At the pre-school Christmas program, I was walking down the hallway, waving and saying, All right, kids, do a good job! Shes walking with these 10 little preschoolers behind her, and shes like, Pray for us Pastor Jeff. Were so nervous. She walked by and you could just see it in every little kids face, Hi Pastor Jeff! Were nervous! What if we forget our lines? What if we trip on the stage? They had all these what ifs? Just relax out there! You practiced. Go have a good time! She had them all in a dither! What if this? What if that? What ifs are cured through faith. Faith is not a passive thing. Faith is an active thing. Pastor Ortberg says in his book, If you wait for fear to leave, youll never step out in faith because a certain element of fear is always present. It may diminish over time, but stepping out in the boat, whether its to share your faith with somebody or Gods calling you to give something sacrificially, or Gods calling you to start a ministry or get engaged in a ministry, its always going to have an element of fear, always. Its through that experience that Peter found Jesus to be faithful. For me this summer, it was not a matter of getting out of the boat, it was getting in a boat. About two years ago, my son, my two nephews and I went Whitewater rafting and capsized on a waterfall. The river was high that day, and we went tumbling down a waterfall. I remember thinking, What if we hit a boulder? What if we drowned? What if we broke a bone? What if we got hurt? So I was afraid to get back in a raft and go Whitewater rafting. I told the children if we went to Colorado, we were going to go Whitewater rafting, so I wanted to keep my promise. I said, This time, well get a guide. Its not going to be Dad leading us down the river. Were going to get a guide. I remember we were pulling up to the Arkansas River there in Pueblo. It was 111-degree day, a good day to go rafting. I remember as we pulled in, we saw this big raft stuck on a boulder with the leader of the raft on a cell phone calling for help. I thought, Thats reassuring. But I said I had to get back on the raft. I had a fear, but I had to get back on the raft. I thought the guides looked pretty able. These guys looked pretty rugged like theyd been outdoorsmen; theyd probably been down that river hundreds of times. I started to feel a sense of reassurance. I wonder if hes going to be the guide. He looks like he knows what hes doing. Or this guy, here, he seems to talk the lingo. I could feel confident in his boat. Those guys all left, and there stood this little girl who looked like she was still in high school. She said, Ill be your guide today. No, you wont. I said, Does your daddy know youre here? Could he come and lead us down the nice river? (Congregation laughing). I said, How old are you? Im 19. How long have you been doing this? She said, Ive been doing this for four years. I said, Have you ever gotten stuck on the River? She said, and I loved her answer, Ive never gotten stuck on the River, and I dont intend to start today. Thats a good answer. She said, If you do what I say when I say and how I say, were going to be just fine. So I put my family in the raft, and I said, Lets go. My son and I were in front, helping to give some power. She was in the middle steering. She would tell us how many strokes to make, when to do it, and how hard to do it. What was interesting was as she navigated, shed say, Okay, around the corner, were going to be coming onto rapids. Heres what were going to try to avoid. Theres something over here that could tear out boat, so well go this way or heres this big boulder where people get stuck, so were going to start paddling hard to the left. You know what I found out? She had been on that river before, so she knew exactly every twist and turn, exactly what was happening, so we could avoid getting stuck or capsizing. So, we just did what she told us to do, and everything was fine. I will tell you this: every time it looked like we were going to go down a little fall, every time we were going to go through a rapid, or every time we approached a big boulder where we could get stuck, I had fear. The fear began to dissipate as, through experience, she would navigate around that boulder and navigate through those rapids. Pretty soon, fear began to subside, and it began to be replaced with faith. I knew this was going to be okay. It was fun, and I was able to let my guard down, knowing we were going to be okay. See, just like she knew every twist and turn of the river and knew what was going to happen when we got there, so the Lord does too. He knows exactly what lies ahead. Thats why you get in trouble when you take the oars from the Lord and think you know better; you start paddling your own boat. Thats when you get in trouble. If we would have said, We dont need you or were going to stroke when we want to stroke, we wouldve been in trouble. Peter would have been in trouble if he said to the Lord, Jesus, could you command me to come? and Jesus would have said, No, Peter, you stay. You stay right there. Dont you realize this is water, and youre a human being? This is a storm. Dont get out of the boat. If Jesus would have said no, and Peter would have walked out on the water, he wouldve been in trouble, right? Is there anybody here who ever got out of the boat and started walking when Jesus didnt tell you to? What happened? You sank, didnt you? Well, I asked Jesus, and He didnt say no. He didnt say yes, but He didnt say no. If He didnt say yes, then you stay in the boat! Im talking to the folks who when God has given you clear command to step out of the boat, to step out of the comfort zone in faith to meet Him, to do something for Him that you know He would want you to do, and you allow your fear to hold you back. Thats what were trying to break free from. Were not talking about being reckless and careless in our faith. Peter was not reckless. He said, Lord, is this what You want? Is this Your will for me? Is this what You want me to do? Jesus says, It is. Come. Peter played the tape through. He played it all the way through. Peter began to ask himself, What is the worst thing that can happen to me? The worst thing that can happen is I sink. If I sink, what will Jesus do? Hell rescue me. Peter understood an important principle. We need to understand this as well. God will allow storms in your life. He will. He will allow storms in your life. He could have stopped the storm from ever happening in the first place, but He didnt do it because there were things that they needed to learn through that storm. God will allow storms in your lives. God will also allow you to sink. He will allow you to sink, but He will never allow you to perish. Thats an important distinction. Peter says, Hes allowed this storm, and He may allow me to sink, but Hes never going to allow me to perish. It was that assurance that enabled Peter to step out of his boat. It is that assurance that enables you and I to step out in faith and obey Gods command. Pastor Ortberg, in the first chapter, says these words, Maybe there was a time in your life when you were walking on the water on a regular basis, a time when your heart was much like Peters: Command me, tell me to come to You, a time when you would risk sharing your faith, even if it meant rejection; giving, even if it meant sacrifice; and serving, even if it meant the possibility of failure. Sometimes you sank, sometimes you soared, but you lived on the edge of faith. Maybe now, though, you havent been out of the boat in a long time. I like this part, You have a nice boat, with padded deck chairs and stabilizers, so you never get seasick in the storm. Youve gotten quite comfortable sitting in your boat, but if you get out, I believe two things will happen: The first thing is when you fail, and sometimes you will fail, Jesus will be there to pick you up. You will not fail alone. You will find that He is wholly adequate to save. The other thing is every once in a while you will walk on water. Lets pray together. Father, we are all in this adventure together. Youve called us to live a life of faith. In fact, youve said a life of faith is the only kind of life that would please You, but yet we want comfort. We want that which is familiar. We want to live without anxiety. We want to live in our security, our familiarity. Youve called us out of those boats to take a step of faith. Father, for the one who needs clarity, I pray that Youd clarify exactly what that means for him or her to walk on water. For those whove already received that command, they understand that theyre in the boat, they understand they need to step out in faith, give them the courage to do that. I pray that we, as a church, we as individuals, would not be paralyzed by the what ifs, that we will step out in faith and obey Your call, for thats where the stories are. Thats where the glory is, in the water where you are, Jesus. Help us, Father, to live in the series ahead. Help us to invite friends and family and coworkers and acquaintances who need these principles in operation in their lives. They can come and hear and be inspired through Your word, to step out of their boat and walk on water. I pray this in Jesus name, Amen. Artist: Petra Album: Beyond Belief Song: Beyond Belief We're content to pitch our tent When the glory's evident Seldom do we know the glory came and went Moving can seem dangerous In this stranger's pilgrimage Knowing that you can't stand still, you cross the bridge (Chorus) There's a higher place to go, beyond belief, beyond belief Where we reach the next plateau, beyond belief, beyond belief And from faith to faith we grow Towards the center of the flow Where He beckons us to go, beyond belief, beyond belief Leap of faith without a net Makes us want to hedge our bet Waters never part until our feet get wet There's a deeper place to go Where the road seems hard to hoe He who has begun this work won't let it go And it takes so long to see the change But we look around and it seems so strange We have come so far but the journey's long And we once were weak but now we're strong. Link: http://www.christianrocklyrics.com/petra/beyondbelief.php