Sermon Series
Lord, We Need A Miracle – Part 6
"Before We Sink!"
Pastor Jerry
Mark 6:45-52 (NLT)
------------------------------------- Message Synopsis -------------------------------------
Across America, many pastors have determined to begin moving toward reopening their churches. However, here at the Boones Mill Church of the Brethren,
we have never considered ourselves to be closed. We are all simply out of our building
because our people are important. As followers of Jesus, we are called to be instruments of God's protection for the vulnerable and for the common good, to be our brother’s keeper. While we share the desire to bring people back to worship inside the building as quickly as possible, and we will be working on that, we will wait to schedule our public worship when it is safe and we are best prepared to do so.
The reality of this coronavirus pandemic is that it is a very dangerous illness and the virus is easy to be passed to one another. That’s why we wear masks and do social distancing.
Here at the Boones Mill Church we are going to continue to give first priority to the protection of the sacredness of life as we strive to minister to your spiritual needs.
Therefore, we are in no way prepared to rush the process of reopening in-person services.
We are committed to being responsible and doing whatever it is that we need to do to make this happen.
I have faith that this Church Family here at the Boones Mill Church will continue to engage in practices that guide us in these difficult times and not threaten the lives of those we love. I have faith in the scientific and medical community and m
ost importantly, I have faith in a God who stands with us during this pandemic to guide us with wisdom.
As I listened to the news reports this week, I kept hearing headlines that cried out: that the economy is sinking in the US and around the globe; that businesses are going under and many companies are sinking and that people are personally sinking in debt.
And the common word I keep hearing was: Sinking! What do you do when you’ve got that feeling …of sinking? We are concluding our sermon series today on miracles entitled:
Lord, We Need a Miracle, and today our message is entitled,
“Before We Sink!” I want us to look at a miracle that is actually recorded in three places in the Bible about
the miracle of Jesus walking on the water. Jesus used this miracle to teach them about how to trust God in tough times when you feel like you are sinking.
The background of the miracle we’re going to look at today happened on the same afternoon when
Jesus had fed the five thousand . When it’s over the crowd is going berserk wanting to make Jesus the king of Israel. They want him to overthrow Rome. Jesus knows, I didn’t come here for this reason, so I’m out of here.
So Jesus says, I’m going to head up to the mountain and I’m going to pray for a while by myself. But then he also tells the disciples, I want you to get in the boat; and he immediately sends them up to Bethsaida.
We pick up the story in Mark 6:45. What we discover in the story is that a storm came up; one with gale force winds. Their intended direction gets blown off course and they’re out in the middle of the lake. And they can’t get back to shore. They’ve been straining at the oars because the wind was against them. So,
Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. They were all terrified when they saw him. But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage! I am here! Then he [Jesus] climbed into the boat, and the wind stopped. They were totally amazed. [In other words they hadn’t learned the lesson of the previous miracle. They were still not figuring out what he was doing here]
Their hearts were too distrusting to take it in.”
What’s going on here?
Jesus intentionally sends the disciples into a storm. He knows it’s going to be a storm, because he knows everything.
But he has a lesson of faith he wants to teach them. A lesson about what do you do when you feel like you’re sinking.
What do you do when you feel you’re going under?
We’re going to look at that today. But before we do I want to give you quickly five signs when you’re sinking. There are five symptoms of that. Here are the symptoms.
- First, I know I’m sinking when I can’t see my way.
I just feel like I’m in the dark. I’m in a cloud. Don’t have any vision. I’m confused. The Bible says in John 6
“By now it was dark.” Have you ever been lost, really lost? One of the first characteristics of you’re going under is you can’t see your way.
- Second, I know I’m sinking when I feel I’m on my own.
I feel alone. I’m rowing against the storm, but I’m all by myself. No one is helping me. I don’t know where God is. I feel out of touch with God. The Bible says in John 6,
“Jesus had not yet joined them.” We always get into trouble when we’re away from Jesus.
- 3rd- I’m going to be sinking when I feel I’m out of my comfort zone.
When I start to feel insecure. The Bible tells us the boat was in the middle of the lake. When you’re in the middle of the lake, that means you’re as far away as you can get from the shore. So they’re in this storm and they can’t just bail out of the boat and swim back to shore.
- 4th - I feel like I’m sinking when Strong forces are against me.
The Bible tells us that they were tossed and battered around by the waves. Some of you right now are being tossed by a storm in your life: financial; out of work; fear of coronavirus.
- 5th - I feel like I’m sinking when I’m struggling, and failing.
I’m doing my best, but I’m still going under. I’m straining, I’m struggling, I’m rowing the boat but I’m not getting back to safety. I’m not making any progress. Mark 6:48 says
“They were in serious trouble, rowing hard and struggling against the winds and the waves.”
I know some of you are feeling this way these days. You’re in serious trouble. You’ve been trying to make ends meet but it’s not happening – whatever it is.
What does God want you to do in that situation? I don’t know what kind of problem you’re going through. But I do know this:
When we go through tough problems we typically think that God has forgotten us, that he’s not doing anything about what we’re going through. The fact is, every time you go through a storm, God is doing four things. We find them illustrated in this story of Jesus walking on water. Every time you’re going through a storm.
- Jesus prays for you before it happens.
Even before I hit the storm, Jesus prays for me before I get into it.
The Bible tells us that Jesus was up on the mountain praying for his disciples as he sent them out into the storm. Most of the time in life when we’re going through problems, pressures, difficulties, things like that – it’s because we are out of touch with God. When I ignore what God, when I ignore what he wants me to do, it causes trouble in my life. Doing it my way causes storms.
But …sometimes even when you listen to his voice,
you still end up in a storm.
What is Jesus doing right now? Have you ever thought about that? The Bible says that right now while he’s in heaven,
Jesus’ is praying for his children. He’s praying on your behalf. He cares about you.
- The second thing Jesus does when you’re in a storm: he notices your struggle.
The disciples were unaware that Jesus saw what was going on in their life so they were afraid. Because we always get afraid when we think God isn’t paying attention.
God knows everything about you. The Bible says he knows every detail of your life.
God notices something that’s out of whack in your life before you notice it. He cares.
3. The 3rd thing Jesus does while we’re in a storm: he comes at your moment of desperation.
At the very moment I’m ready to give up, that is the time he shows up in my life. Some of you are ready to give up right now. You say I had no intention of being right here today where I am now in my job, in my health, in this Pandemic, in my finances.
You’re questioning, can I make it? Some of you at the moment of desperation. What does Jesus do when you’re at your moment of desperation?
Jesus comes to you! He doesn’t wait for me to get to him because I can’t get to him. No lectures!
When you’re in a storm you don’t need advice; you need a miracle. He went out to where they were. He intervened in their storm.
You may feel alone right now, but you’re not. The Bible says this in John 14
“I will not abandon you or leave you as orphans in the storm. I will come to you.” Count on it!
4. The 4th thing Jesus does while we’re in a storm Jesus shows me his true identity.
You only learn what Jesus is really like in the storms of life. He’s not mere man.
He is God. The creator of the universe. By walking on water, Jesus is revealing he’s far more than a man. He’s saying I’m God. He says
“It is I.” I AM! Seventeen times in the New Testament Jesus uses the phrase
“I am.”
If you’re in a storm right now. If you’ve got problems. You don’t need things, you need Jesus. You don’t need what the world offers, you need a Savior. The answer is not something that you can think up to get you out of a storm. All the plans in the world weren’t going to stop the waves and the wind.
They needed Jesus. They needed the great I AM.
This is what you need to do if you’re sinking. Don’t set your eyes on anything else.
Keep your eyes on the Lord. Because the moment you get your eyes off the Lord, you’re going under. This is what happened to Peter. If God tells you to do it, it’s going to work.
You need to stop trying to figure it all out. Your primary need right now, right here is the Lord.
So here’s the question:
What storm are you facing right now? What storm is sinking you right now? Jesus will
let you know, I’m all you need. I will come to you. The stuff you’re afraid of. It’ll be me.
I’m not asking you to walk on water. I’m going to do that for you. I am going to come to you. You just need to stop being afraid and you just need to totally trust me in faith to take care of you.
