Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Foreign.
[00:00:08] Church. We are thrilled you decided to listen to our teaching on your favorite podcast app. If you made a decision to follow Christ today, would you let us know by visiting yes.newlife Gillette.com Here is this week's teaching.
[00:00:27] Okay, let me say welcome to those of you who are watching online, to the guys over at the prison, to our friends at the jail, and those of you who are here in the room.
[00:00:36] If you've been around church very often, you've likely heard somebody say something like, God told me, or I heard a word from the Lord or something like that. And if you're like me, often, you've probably thought, how?
[00:00:51] What do you mean you heard from, like, was it an audible voice you heard?
[00:00:55] You read something in the Bible and that taught you something? What do you mean? Mean you heard the Lord say something.
[00:01:02] And when you ask that question, generally you get a different response depending on the person that you ask the question to. Everybody seems to hear from the Lord in different ways, and there's some categories of ways. And I think the way that you hear from God is largely influenced by your beliefs, your theology. It's influenced by your experience, by maybe your worship style or the congregation that you're a member of. And so that can have an influence over the way God speaks to you or the way you hear from the Lord. But the truth is, all of us kind of need to walk this journey of figuring out what does it look like for me to hear from God. And maybe for you it's just, I need to get into scripture more so that God can speak to me through the Bible. Or maybe it's, I need to pray and then be quiet more and let the, let God speak to me in my prayer season in life. And the truth is, we all have to walk a journey of figuring out what that looks like in our lives. I personally have gone through seasons, seasons where I felt like God was just speaking to me. I felt like maybe it was through an idea, maybe it was through something I read in Scripture, maybe it was something I heard in a message or some circumstances that just lined up in a. In a specific way. And it just seemed like God was speaking to me in those seasons and other seasons I've gone through. And I felt like, okay, I guess I'm just going to keep going the direction God sent me in last, because I haven't heard anything in a long time. And if you go through this journey of trying to learn to hear from God, you'll likely go through these seasons as well.
[00:02:38] I'm going to tell you a story now about the greatest quarterback of all time, Patrick Mahomes. Have you ever noticed when in between games or in between plays, Patrick Mahomes does the same with his fingers where he goes like this. Ever seen him do that? And the whole time you're like, what are you. Is that a nervous tick? And he just walks around after plays and before the next play, go going like this. And they get up to the huddle and he's still doing this. I'm like, what are you doing? And finally, I heard somebody say the other day that what he's doing is he's communicating to Matt Neggy. So he's got an earpiece. Patrick Mahomes has an earpiece in, and Matt Nagy is talking to Andy Reid. They're the coaches, and they're communicating to Patrick Mahomes what the next play is or are giving them insights about what's going on with the defense. And so he's listening to them, and this is him telling the offensive coordinator, give it to me. I need. I need the call, I need the play. I need the information so that I can then convey the information to the team. So they come into the huddle, and Patrick Mahomes is able to say to the people in the huddle, okay, this is. Or the players. Here's the play. Here's where everybody needs to be. Who gives specific instructions.
[00:03:47] Sometimes I think church is a lot like a huddle.
[00:03:50] Like, we've all got a part to play.
[00:03:52] We've all got different gifts and abilities. We've all got different skills and positions to play on the team. The analogy that scripture uses is we are all part of a body, and we all have different body parts that play different roles in helping us do the things that we need to do. And we all play a different part. And so every once in a while, we come together. All of the different positions come together in a huddle. We do it on Sunday mornings or Wednesday nights, and we come together and we say, okay, God, what's the play?
[00:04:24] So what does that mean for us?
[00:04:26] That means we need to come into church like this.
[00:04:30] Okay, God, what's the play? I'm listening. I want to hear from you. I need some instructions. I need to hear from you, God. I think a lot of times we come into church and it's just a habit thing, you know, well, I'm supposed to do this. Or God, the Bible says we need to be gathering together. So I'm going to gather together. I'm just going through the Motions.
[00:04:51] If we're going to get out of these gatherings what they're intended for us to get out of them. Then we come into the room saying, God, I want to hear from you. It's one reason why we start off with prayer and worship at the beginning of the service is to get our heart in a place where we are ready to hear from God.
[00:05:09] And so we bring our attention to God.
[00:05:12] We try really hard to pick worship songs that bring our attention to God and off of the things that are going on in the world and off of our troubles and off of the details. So I gotta preach fast enough so your attention doesn't go to what you're going to eat for lunch.
[00:05:27] It's like, this is. This is how we've designed this. And if we're going to get out of it, what we should get out of it, we've got to come in like this.
[00:05:35] We're talking through the life of Peter, one of Jesus's disciples. And Peter is one of my favorite characters in the Bible because I can relate to him so much. And last week we told the story about Peter walking on water. And it's a great story.
[00:05:50] We used a sermon from John Ortberg. He said. He said, if you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat.
[00:05:59] But the truth is, I think that that is not actually the message that we are supposed to get out of the story. Now, it's not wrong to use that story as a metaphor that we can get some lessons out of as an illustration of a biblical truth. And that's kind of what we did last week. But this week, I actually want to get to the core of the story. Like the story itself leads us to a conclusion that we actually didn't even get to last week. And so this week we're going to continue on in the story, and we're going to get to the conclusion that the story leads us to.
[00:06:33] There are four books in the beginning of the New Testament. They are called the Gospels. First four books of the New Testament, that's the second part of the part of the Bible. And the Gospels, three of them tell the story of Jesus walking on water. And today we're going to read all three of those versions of the story.
[00:06:53] We're going to start by looking at Mark's version of the story. So to catch you up where we are, Peter has just performed the miracle of feeding 5,000 people with just a few loaves of bread and a couple fish. And so he feeds 5,000 people, and then he Sends his disciples across the Sea of Galilee to go on ahead of him.
[00:07:13] And he stays behind.
[00:07:16] I think he was probably dispersing the baskets that were left over or something. Or he goes out into the wilderness and prays. So Jesus sends them on ahead. The disciples go out onto the ocean. And here's Mark's the story.
[00:07:28] Jesus saw the disciples at the oars.
[00:07:32] You guys bring me another pack.
[00:07:35] I don't want to keep.
[00:07:38] Jesus saw the disciples straining at the oars because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn, he went out to them walking on the lake.
[00:07:47] He was about to pass by them, but when they saw him walk, they thought he was a ghost.
[00:07:54] So Hebrew folklore believed that Sheol, or what we would call hell, was in the deepest parts of the earth. And they believed that there were doorways or portals to hell in the bottom of the sea. Sea was just kind of this representation of chaos.
[00:08:10] And where the sea was, there was chaos. And what was below there, they didn't have submarines and they didn't have scuba gear. They didn't know what was in the bottom of sea. The sea. So they just kind of invented these stories and they believed that there were doorways to hell in the bottom of the sea. That was their superstition of their false.
[00:08:34] And it seems like now. Good job, guys. It seems like now that the disciples have believed it, right? They must believe in this folklore, these false religions, because they see Jesus walking on the water and assume that he is a ghost.
[00:08:51] And so they cried out because they saw him and were terrified.
[00:08:55] Immediately he spoke to them and said, take courage. It is I. Don't be afraid.
[00:09:01] Then he climbed into the boat with them and the wind died down. Then he climbed into the boat with them and the wind died down.
[00:09:12] And that is Mark's version of the story.
[00:09:15] It's a great story, but there's some details missing out, aren't there?
[00:09:20] This version is a shorter version.
[00:09:24] We'll read now John's version of the story. He adds a couple details. He says they had rowed three or four miles when suddenly they saw Jesus walking on the water toward the boat. They were terrified, but Jesus called out to them, don't be afraid.
[00:09:41] I am here.
[00:09:43] Then they were eager to let Jesus in the boat. Then they were eager to let Jesus in the boat. And immediately they arrived at their destination.
[00:09:53] You know, some people, if you read atheists, scholars, and people that critique the Bible, they will also often say that when you read the Bible, it's full of contradictions.
[00:10:04] And so one of the contradictions that they'll point to are this type of contradiction where you read two versions of the story and the details are slightly different, and they say that's proof that the Bible is not real. You see those contradictions, different stories. One say the storm died down. One says they arrived at their destination.
[00:10:23] Now, I believe that if you read it with an open mind, you recognize that this is two different people who witnessed the event from two different perspectives and are telling the story of what they saw. Both are true. They're just including different details.
[00:10:38] And so you look at the details of these two versions of the story and you ask yourself, what's missing.
[00:10:45] Interesting how we just read two stories that are just like the story we last week, but there's a big detail that we talked about the whole time last time that's missing. What is it?
[00:10:56] Peter.
[00:10:58] Peter's not even mentioned in these two versions of the story.
[00:11:02] I thought the whole story was about Peter walking on water.
[00:11:06] Isn't that the story? No, actually, that's not the point of the story.
[00:11:12] What is the point of the story?
[00:11:14] This is a story all about the power of Jesus.
[00:11:20] When Jesus gets in the boat, the storm is calmed.
[00:11:26] So let's read Matthew's version of the story. It's the version we read last week, but we're going to go farther this time.
[00:11:32] When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified.
[00:11:35] In their fear, they cried out, it's a ghost. But Jesus spoke to them at once.
[00:11:41] Don't be afraid, he said, take courage. I am here.
[00:11:45] Then Peter called to him, lord, if it's really you, tell me to come to you. Walking on the water.
[00:11:52] Yes, come, Jesus said, so Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw the strong wind and the waves, when he saw the strong wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink.
[00:12:09] Okay, now we got Peter in the story.
[00:12:13] Peter didn't write this version. The funny thing is, Peter was probably behind part of Mark's information when he wrote his version of the story. But it's Matthew that includes Peter in the story.
[00:12:24] And Matthew talks about Peter walking on water, but he clarifies here whose strength, whose power was it that makes it possible for Peter to walk on water?
[00:12:39] It wasn't Peter.
[00:12:41] Peter was a skilled fisherman, but I don't think when he was out there fishing, he learned how to walk on water.
[00:12:48] He didn't have the spiritual gift of water walking.
[00:12:52] Peter's walking on water. Why?
[00:12:56] Well, we can tell by looking at what Happens when Peter takes his eyes off of Jesus.
[00:13:02] When Peter takes his eyes off of Jesus, Peter begins to sink. Apparently, it wasn't Peter's power that was allowing him to walk on water.
[00:13:11] And Peter says, save me, Lord. He shouted.
[00:13:15] Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him.
[00:13:18] You have so little faith.
[00:13:20] Not you have so little skill.
[00:13:23] Not what's wrong with you, you weak little person?
[00:13:27] He says, you have little faith. Why? What he needs to walk on water is not skill or power or talent.
[00:13:34] What he needs is faith in Jesus, the One who has the power. Jesus said, why did you doubt me?
[00:13:43] Not why did you doubt yourself?
[00:13:46] That's the world's message.
[00:13:49] Trust yourself, trust your heart.
[00:13:52] Look within.
[00:13:56] Now Jesus says, look to me.
[00:14:00] We take our attention off of ourselves and put it on Christ. If you want the power to accomplish the things that God put you into this world to accomplish, you don't need more of you. You need more. More of him. You need to become like him.
[00:14:15] Peter, walking on water was completely dependent on him keeping his focus on Jesus.
[00:14:22] And this is the way we grow. This is the way we are sanctified. This is the way we mature by keeping our attention on Jesus. We walk into church and we say, jesus, more of you speak to me. Lead me, teach me God.
[00:14:40] More of you, less of me.
[00:14:43] Knowledge puffs up.
[00:14:47] But when we become like Christ, love builds up in us and through us.
[00:14:55] And when they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped.
[00:15:02] What happens when Jesus gets in the boat? All three stories include this detail.
[00:15:07] What happens when Jesus gets in the boat? This is not a story about us getting out of the boat. This is a story about trusting Jesus enough to get him in the boat. I recognize that you're not a scary sea monster. I recognize that you're not a ghost. Okay, I will let you into the boat. I trust you. I put my faith in you. It was fun to walk on water for a minute, but the wind did not die down. The storm was not calmed until Jesus got into the boat.
[00:15:35] The truth is that Peter, in his doubt, was able to walk on water.
[00:15:40] But when the doubt was gone, he let Jesus into the boat and the storm was calmed.
[00:15:48] There's a good chance that the whole reason that Peter got out of the boat was just to investigate the ghost.
[00:15:54] This is the type of guy Peter is. Pull out the sword, fight the soldier Peter.
[00:15:59] He's going to protect the disciples in the boat from the ghost on the sea.
[00:16:06] But then when he realizes it's Christ, the one he's put his faith in, he lets him into the boat.
[00:16:14] There's a lot of us here today who are too scared to let Jesus into our lives because we don't know what he will do when he comes in.
[00:16:26] We don't know if we can fully trust him with every part of our lives.
[00:16:32] It's like God. Okay, you can come in, but don't look around too much.
[00:16:38] There's some stuff you're gonna see in there when you come in that is a little embarrassing. And I don't really want to give up, to be honest with you. I kind of enjoy it.
[00:16:48] So I'm just gonna, like, keep that part of my life to myself. You can have this other part, like God come in and do the saving and healing and good stuff, but please don't take away the stuff that I want, that you don't want me to have.
[00:17:04] Eventually, we all have to get to the place where we realize if I am going to fully become the person that God created me to be, I've got to make him Lord, not just Savior.
[00:17:17] I've got to make him Lord of my life. Full surrender, you have it all.
[00:17:22] So, God, I confess my sins.
[00:17:25] I turn from my way and I go your way. I'm done following my plan. I'm ready to go after your plan, your agenda. Because mine just keeps leading me to pain.
[00:17:38] That's scary, because scripture does tell us that following him will eventually lead us to pain.
[00:17:46] And one of those pains is when he comes in and he starts removing things from our lives that we don't want him to remove from asking us to make changes that we don't want to make.
[00:18:02] But the good news is, he says that he will make our lives better and better at life.
[00:18:09] Because those things that we keep clinging to aren't bringing us the pleasure we think they are.
[00:18:16] They are leading us down a road that only ends in pain.
[00:18:23] Let him in the boat.
[00:18:27] And the truth is, when Jesus comes into the boat, he does two things. Jesus steers just what he does. This is why scripture teaches us that when we have Christ in our lives, we produce good fruit. The spirit in us will produce good fruit. That's what it does. Why? Because the spirit steers. He leads.
[00:18:48] Growing up, my dad would never let anyone else in the family drive his car.
[00:18:54] If dad was in the car, dad was driving the car. Anybody else have that? A dad that always drove? No. Okay, just. Yeah, some of us. Dad drove. Which meant dad called the shots. Dad picked the directions. Don't try to help out with directions. It's not a wrong turn. If dad Made the turn.
[00:19:12] He's in charge, right? That's just the way my dad was.
[00:19:15] And don't try to give input. Don't try to get advice. Give advice. You just gotta let him drive.
[00:19:22] Whenever we were going on vacations, we would all, you know, the stress of trying to get everybody packed and out the door in time in order to get to your destination in time. We're going to Grandma's house in Oklahoma City. So we got to get packed up and get in the car.
[00:19:36] And so everybody's getting packed up and we're all fighting and upset. Mom's mad that we're running late, and everybody, like, been bickering and he touched me type thing.
[00:19:49] And Dad's in the front seat. And every time so mad, dad would say, is everybody happy?
[00:19:58] We'd be like, no, we're not happy.
[00:20:02] Life is terrible.
[00:20:07] I think at some point in our lives, we just have to say, God, you steer.
[00:20:12] I trust you. I'm not even going to pay attention to the directions.
[00:20:17] I'm just going to put it in your hands. Because this storm I'm in right now is just. I don't understand.
[00:20:23] It's too crazy. It's too confusing. It's too complex. I don't understand. I need you to just take over God.
[00:20:32] And there are other times in life when we come to God and we say, God, I need some instructions.
[00:20:40] I don't know what to do. I need some help.
[00:20:43] Sometimes God says, well, you could go this way, you can go this way.
[00:20:50] I think I'll be with you whichever way you go.
[00:20:55] And so we can choose in those circumstances. It's not always a black and white this way or this way. Sometimes it's just, I'll be with you as you go.
[00:21:06] And so as we allow God to steer our lives and he is with us, he's not just calming the storm, but he's also calming us in the storm.
[00:21:16] We put our faith in him.
[00:21:18] When Jesus is in the boat, he steers and he calms.
[00:21:23] When we let Jesus come into our lives, he calms the storm.
[00:21:29] Scripture calls it peace that passes understanding.
[00:21:34] You know, people like this, it's like, you should not be okay right now. Because I look at the circumstances of your life, but for some reason you seem okay.
[00:21:43] What is that? That's unexplainable peace. That is supernatural, spiritual peace that we believe is a gift of the Spirit.
[00:21:54] When the Spirit comes into our lives, he changes us and he calms us. And the truth is, nothing else in this world can do that.
[00:22:04] Everything Else you try to calm your life, to bring you peace will only lead you to pain.
[00:22:14] Because some of us get this idea that, well, if I can just get enough money, if I can get enough money, I can get out of debt. I can own the things I want to own. I can do the things I want to do. I can quit this working for this terrible boss that I have.
[00:22:31] We can buy a bigger house, we can drive nicer cars. If I just have enough money, then I will have peace.
[00:22:39] Jesus actually talked about this dilemma all the time.
[00:22:43] He said, no, if money is your Lord, it will only lead you to pain.
[00:22:49] Wealth will never bring you peace.
[00:22:52] Some people think, well, if I just had enough power, just put me in charge. If I can be in charge, if I can call the shots, I'm strong enough, watch me walk on water.
[00:23:03] Like, if I'm in charge, then I can move all the puzzle pieces around and get things the way I want them so that I can have peace in my. My life.
[00:23:14] Jesus says, nope, no amount of power will bring you peace.
[00:23:20] Nothing in this world, even your family will fail you. Nothing in this world can give you peace except for an intimate relationship with Jesus Christ.
[00:23:31] Everything that everything else, inevitably in. In the meantime, it might seem like it brings some pleasure.
[00:23:38] Sin sometimes feels good in the moment, but then it leads to pain.
[00:23:45] Jesus says, let me steer so that I can bring a calm to your life that you can never bring on your own, that you can never experience without me.
[00:23:55] Let me calm your life. Let me give you peace.
[00:24:00] Can I tell you one more? Chief's illustration.
[00:24:03] Thank you.
[00:24:05] The year is 2024.
[00:24:08] Long time ago.
[00:24:09] The Chiefs are in the AFC championship game and they're playing against. Anybody know that? Very good Baltimore Ravens. Got a Chiefs fan over here.
[00:24:20] And it's. Oh, it's one of those incredible games that it looked like the Chiefs are going to lose. And everything's falling apart.
[00:24:26] And it's the last drive of the game and everything does start falling apart. There's this one moment where Patrick Mahomes is running around and he looks. The play clock is running down. They're out of time. It's like, what is he doing? And he calls timeout. And the announcers are like, what? You needed that timeout. Why did you waste the time out? What the announcers don't realize is that there's more going on than what they realize.
[00:24:52] Patrick Mahomes earpiece is cutting out and he can't hear the play.
[00:24:58] And so Patrick Mahomes doesn't know what to do.
[00:25:02] And so he calls time out, and he runs over to the sideline and he goes to Andy Reid, and he's like, I can't hear you. I don't know what play to call.
[00:25:09] So they huddle up, and Andy Reid says, okay, here's the plan.
[00:25:14] And he's able to talk them through the rest of the drive down the field, and they're able to make a game plan.
[00:25:22] And then you know what happens?
[00:25:25] Patrick Mahomes goes out and leads the team down the field. They score a touchdown and win the game.
[00:25:32] Because Patrick Mahomes knows where to turn when he needs the plan.
[00:25:38] He knows who should be steering.
[00:25:42] And so he goes to the coach. He says, coach, I need some help. Give me some guidance. Give me some leadership.
[00:25:49] This is what we have to do in our lives all the time.
[00:25:54] This is why scripture talks about praying without ceasing day in, day out.
[00:26:00] God, guide me. God, lead me.
[00:26:02] God, I'm tempted right now. Will you give me strength?
[00:26:05] God, I'm not sure what I should do. I'm not sure the advice I should give to my kid. I'm not sure what job I should take. I'm not sure what girl I should ask out. I'm not sure. God, give me guidance. Lead me.
[00:26:18] Sometimes he steers.
[00:26:20] He says, get in the back seat. I'm driving.
[00:26:23] Another times, he says, you steer, I'll give you the directions.
[00:26:27] Mike gives us some options.
[00:26:31] But the reality is when we just relegate God to the backseat and we just say, hey, God, you stay back there and I'll drive.
[00:26:40] I'll do the directions. You just make sure you're back there to protect us if we get into a wreck.
[00:26:46] You just make sure you're back there to keep us safe. But I'm in charge.
[00:26:51] We lead us to pain.
[00:26:54] We have to let Jesus into the driver's seat to call the shots so that he can lead us to the peace that only he has the power to accomplish.
[00:27:07] We're going to take communion together today. Communion is a metaphor.
[00:27:13] You've got some bread and you've got some juice. And Christians come to the table to take the bread and dip it into the juice and we eat it there. The bread represents Jesus body which was crucified, broken for us.
[00:27:30] The juice represents his blood that was shed so that our sins could be forgiven.
[00:27:35] Because here's the reality.
[00:27:37] When Jesus lived on earth, the Jews lived under a sacrificial system that required them to go to the temple if they wanted to meet with God. Why? Because there was a Veil.
[00:27:48] There was a wall that was built between people and God because the sin in the lives of people was keeping them from the presence of God coming into their lives.
[00:27:59] So Jesus had to die on the cross, the last sacrifice to cover all sin.
[00:28:06] Jesus died on the cross so that your sins could be forgiven and that the Holy Spirit could live inside of you. So that we can live our lives in this prayer without ceasing way, where we are constantly communing with God, where we are constantly talking to God, so we do the act of communion, so that we can remind ourselves why it is that we have the opportunity to come to God and say, God, lead me. God, teach me me.
[00:28:31] God, give me peace.
[00:28:35] So while we take communion, here's what I want to ask you to do.
[00:28:39] I want to ask you to bring to mind the storm that is in your life.
[00:28:45] What is the thing that you're wrestling with? What is the thing that you're afraid of? What's the thing that you're angry about?
[00:28:53] What's the problem that you just can't solve with your own power?
[00:28:59] What attacks is the enemy bringing against you?
[00:29:03] What is the storm in your life? Bring it to mind. Specifically, name it in your mind.
[00:29:09] Because while we take communion today, I want you to think about his body and his blood.
[00:29:18] It's more than just simple. It is simple, but it's more than that, too. It is. It's a spiritual act where we say, God, I am bringing you into my life to steer and to bring the peace that only you can give.
[00:29:35] So you bring the storm to mind and you say, God, will you calm down storm, and will you calm me in the storm?
[00:29:45] This is an opportunity to commune with God.
[00:29:49] There are seven stations around the room. There's four of them up front here that you can choose from, and then two in the balcony. Then there's one over there on the side that if you have a gluten allergy, you can make your way over there. We're going to come forward during this next song in a prayerful posture, communing with God.
[00:30:11] God, I pray for anybody here today who is open to the opportunity to hearing from you.
[00:30:19] I pray that there is somebody here today that for the very first time hears from you, has an encounter with you, that you will speak to them, that your spirit can do in them what only you can do in them, that you will reveal your power to them, that you will change their lives.
[00:30:40] God, we come to you ready and willing for you to steer, make the changes you need to make. We confess of our sins. We turn away from our way of living and we turn to your way of living.
[00:30:59] God give us strength to do the hard things, to go your way.
[00:31:09] Bring your peace. In Jesus name, amen.
