JESUS IS LORD
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Good Morning, please turn with me in your Bibles to .
Why is it that the Early church was able to take the gospel to the ends of the Earth even across the Roman empire even though they came against
I wanna peak with you this morning on this subject, WHY DID YOU DOUBT?
Matthew 14:22
Immediately He made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side, while He dismissed the crowds.
After dismissing the crowds, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone. But the boat was already over a mile from land, battered by the waves, because the wind was against them. Around three in the morning, He came toward them walking on the sea. When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost!” they said, and cried out in fear.
Immediately Jesus spoke to them. “Have courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
“Lord, if it’s You,” Peter answered Him, “command me to come to You on the water.”
“Come!” He said.
And climbing out of the boat, Peter started walking on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the strength of the wind, he was afraid. And beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus reached out His hand, caught hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?” When they got into the boat, the wind ceased. Then those in the boat worshiped Him and said, “Truly You are the Son of God!”
Matthew 14:23-
Do you ever doubt?
Do you ever struggle with faith? Last week we talked about walking by faith and now were going to talk about struggling with faith. It never ceases to amaze me, any time a family is ready to surrender all and follow the Lord, there is always a crisis of belief.
A couple hasn’t been in church in awhile and they begin to come and then something terrible happens, it becomes a crisis of faith, a test of faith, a teenager hears the word and call of God at camp and then he comes home to find teenagers his age mocking him, and all of a sudden the fire that had been sparked deep down within begins to dwindle, what has occured?
A crisis of faith. A struggle with faith.
Do you ever struggle believing that God is really gonna come through? Do you ever struggle with any feelings that things just arent going to turn out?
I think all of us struggle with that sometimes, I think we can all understand with the man in the NT who said to Jesus Lord I believe, but help my unbelief.
The Priority of Jesus
The Priority of Jesus
What is the priority of Jesus?
Jesus has just fed the 5,000 that is the only miracle in the NT that is recorded in all the gospels.
(13-15,000)
Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.
That miracle of feeding the 5,000 shows alot about Jesus it shows he is God in the flesh, He is enough HE CAN TAKE CARE OF ANYTHING AND NEED IN THIS WORLD WITH MEAGER RESOURCES.
When you have Jesus He is the source and after this amazing miracles He sends His disciples to go ahead of Him across to the other side of the sea of Galilee.
Then he goes back and He nis going to send the crowds away but He also sent them away bc He just wanted some time alone.
With God the father, how many of you have ever said you know what I really would like some time alone?
I just wish I could get alone with God, I just wish that I could just spend some time just me and the Lord hey if you feel that way, your alot like Jesus, bc He did it often. He often would go off alone and spend time with the Father, we read in
So He Himself often withdrew into the wilderness and prayed.
The Bible says
Now it came to pass in those days that He went out to the mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God.
Now when is the last time you spent the whole night in prayer, now dont tell me, that you cant do it, there are people who will get drunk in Tallahassee Florida stay out all night boozing it up going to wild parties and they are mad when the sun comes up bc that tells them they oughtta go home and go to bed.
Now if they can go out and live like the devil, dont you think that every now and then the people of God every once in awhile, oughtta stay up all night and pray?
“There are people all over London who spend all night in drunkenness why cant the people of God spend one night every once and awhile in prayer?”
There have been may nights when I havent stayed up all night praying but darn near close. But it is funny how when things begin to get difficult, how our first reaction bc of the stress of life is not to stay up all night in prayer but rather get our rest for what lies ahead tomorrow.
(the trailer)
Jesus loved His father so much that He spent a night alone in prayer, and probably more than one. That is what He did right before He chose the 12 disciples, If we would pray more about our decisions, we would make better decisions.
All of this emphasis on prayer is why it is not surprising to read here
After He had sent the crowds away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray; and when it was evening, He was there alone.
Jesus sent them away so that He could pray, this always amazes me, that Jesus the Son of god God in the flesh needed to and wanted to pray. He was a prayer warrior, He prayed at His baptism
Now when all the people were baptized, Jesus was also baptized, and while He was praying, heaven was opened,
and the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in You I am well-pleased.”
When Jesus prayed the entire Trinity burst forth at His baptism He is there getting Baptized He is looking into Heaven He is praying, How manof you want to live under an open Heaven.
The Spirit of God comes down in the form of a dove and the Father speaks form Heaven THIS IS MY BELOVED SON IN WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED!
Man when you pray God starts talking to you, when you pray the Spirit of God anoints you, when your pray the Heavens open, IF YOU DONT PRAY NOTHING HAPPENS!
This is Jesus’ priority in life He is a prayer warrior.
He wants to see His father move in the lives of the people He is ministering around.
When it was already late, His disciples approached Him and said, “This place is a wilderness, and it is already late!
In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house, and went away to a secluded place, and was praying there.
Luke 22:
And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.
Now if you look at our Bible you will see that Jesus was on the cross, how many hours does anybody remember how many hours?
6
From 9-3 pm
Do you know what 9 in the morning was?
It was the Jewish time for morning prayer. Do you know what 3:00 was? It was the afternoon time for Jewish prayer.
Jesus was on the cross at both of those times, and He went from the morning time of prayer all the way I dont think that is a coincedence do you?
I dont
He starts of His 7 statements from the cross He begins with a prayer
FATHER FORGIVE THEM THEY DONT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING.
He is praying that at 9:00 guess what He is doing at 3:00 He is praying INTO THY HANDS I COMMIT MY SPIRIT!
EVEN IN HIS DEATH HE IS ALL ABOUT TALKING WITH HIS FATHER!
Jesus prayed at the times of prayer Jesus was the greatest prayer warrior to ever live. Thats not an accident, thats is all providential. The Bible tells us what Jesus is doing right now even as I speak.
He is praying
Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them.
Your gonna make it your salvation is secure bc Jesus paid for it and He is praying for you, Jesus is interceding for you. Now I just wanna say this IF THE SON OF GOD MAJORED IN PRAYER THEN HOW MUCH MORE DO YOU AND I NEED TO MAJOR IN PRAYER?
It should be our priority, you might not get out of bed tomorrow, you might not eat tommorow you might not work tomorrow you might not talk to people tomorrow but I’ll tell you this, if you will pray to God tomorrow you will have an amazing day tomorrow if you’ll just spend time talking to the Lord.
Prayer had GOT TO BE THE PRIORITY OF OUR LIFE. A day without prayer is wasted day. If your not talking with God your not walking with God, when prayer becomes your priority then God becomes your priority.
There is nonothing more important in your day than prayer, prayer opens the windows of Heaven and lets the eternal light of God shows through you, prayer brings down the power of God into your circumstances, prayer keeps you from worrying and it moves the heart of God, Prayer builds your faith and faith moves mountains STOP MAKING EXCUSES ABOUT HOW USY YOU ARE AND START PRAYING!
Jesus did not make excuses He trusted His Father and prayed and walked in faith.
If you are going to walk by faith you going to have make prayer a real priority.
The Problem of the Disciples
The Problem of the Disciples
Anybody got a problem out there?
They had a problem…
But the boat was already a long distance from the land, battered by the waves; for the wind was contrary.
The dsciples were in a troubled time the wind was against them, they were working as hard as they could to keep the boat on course they were tired they were vulnerable, they were worn out, they were scared.
These were men who were fishermen but Jesus was not with them and they were scared what were they going to do?
The waves are crashing in on them. The winds are against them, I WANT YOU TO KNOW SOMETHING IF YOU FOLOW JESUS THERE WILL ALWAYS BE A CULTURAL HEADWIND AGAINST YOU!
THERE WILL ALWAYS BE A STORMY SEA, THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A STORMLESS CHRISTIANITY
“EMBRACE THE ADVERSITY” knowing that THERE IS ONE WHO HAS A REASON FOR THE SEASON YOUR GOING THROUGH AND THE STRENGTH TO BOTH CARRY YOU THROUGH AND BRING ABOUT YOUR GOOD AND HIS GLORY!!@!
But they all felt this could be it we could drowned, this could be the end of life as we know it. They began by trying to be obedeint to Jesus who sent them over to the other side but now they were so sure they were going to make it.
How many of you ever felt that way?
You began in obedience but then the headwind shifted and you became afraid that you would not be able to finish?
That is where the disciples were.
WE MUST REMEMBER THE GOD WHO SENT US INTO THE STORMY SEA, SENT US THERE BECAUSE HE KNEW THAT TO MAKE YOU MORE LIKE CHRIST TO GIVE YOU THE GREATEST JOY HE HAS TO FIRST STRETCH YOUR KNOWLEDGE OF JUST WHO HE IS AND WHAT HE IS CAPABLE OF!!
Have you ever felt battered by the winds of life? Have you ever been in the boat with the disciples?
Have you ever felt like you were a long distance from any relief that you really didnt have alot of hope?
have you ever felt like that?
I have and I think most of us have and if you havent just keep breathing itll come your way.
What should you do when you face a problem in life? PRAY IN FAITH!
Thats why Jesus is back there praying, He is praying because He knew they had a problem coming up He was praying about His problems and their problems.
Trust in the Lord with all your heart
And do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He will make your paths straight.
I wanna say this some of you do you know what your problem is? you have got so much experience you think you think you know how to handle everything now.
Sometimes your experience can be your worst enemy, bc God might wanna do something totally new that He has never done in your life, or in the life of this church, sometimes some of you think well I have been here I have done this I know what to do..
MAY WE NEVER CAST OFF THE NEW WORK JESUS WANTS TO DO BECAUSE OF AN OLD WORK THAT HE DID BEFORE!
WE CANNOT COAST OFF THE FUMES OF PAST SUCCESS WITH THE LORD
THAT’S WHY IT IS CALLED WALKING WITH GOD AND NOT SITTING WITH GOD!!
God has got to direct you, maybe God wants to do something different than the last time this thing came around!
DONT LEAN LEAN ON YOUR OWN UNDERSTANDING SEEK HIS WILL IN ALL THAT YOU DO, HE WILL SHOW YOU WHICH PATH TO TAKE.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
YOU CANT GET PEACE WITH MONEY, YOU CANT GET PEACE WITHA BIGGER HOUSE, BETTER CAR, ANOTHER RELATIONSHIP, PEOPLE ARE LOOKING IN ALL THE WRONG PLACES FOR PEACE.
Let me tell you where peace is, its where you get down on your face before God and your pour out all your cares upon God and you give Him your hopes and your dreams and your future and you put that in the palm of His hands and trust Him to guide you!
There are alot of people out there who would give alot of money to have some peace, but I’d rather have peace than have all the money in the world. I would rather have peace and security in Jesus than to have worldly posessions and think there is security in them.
THERES NOTHING MORE PEACEFUL THAN GODS PEACE!
GUARD YOUR HEARTS (EMOTIONS) GUARD YOUR MINDS (thoughts)
Some of you cant sleep bc of your thoughts at night, some of you cant rest because of your emotions I am telling you you need to start PRAYING and crying out for peace, the only way youll ever have peace is to walk by faith and pray.
casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.
Everyone of you is going to encounter adversity in this life, everyone of you is going to have the wind blowing contrary agaisnt you in some way mam thats going to happen to you, sir thats going to happen to you, teenager thats going to happen to you IM TELLING YOU THE WIND IS GOING TO BLOW AGAISNT YOU, THE WAVES ARE GOING TO CRASH INTO YOU YOUR GOING TO BE FAR FROM ANY RELIEF FAR AWAY FROM THE SHORE FAR AWA FROM THE LORD
YOU NEED TO LEARN TO PRAY AND WALK BY FAITH!
I have told you these things so that in Me you may have peace. You will have suffering in this world. Be courageous! I have conquered the world.”
Thats the problem we face
THE POWER OF JESUS
THE POWER OF JESUS
Around three in the morning, He came toward them walking on the sea.
Now I am going to camp here just a second.
Jesus knew His disciples were in trouble, even though they didnt come to Him in prayer so much as they did in fear, they were worried out there, Jesus came to them.
AINT YOU GLAD WHEN WE CANT GET TO JESUS JESUS COMES TO US!
The 4th watch
This is the last watch of the night and the Jews would do it like this, the first watch was from 6pm to 9 pm the second watch was from 9 pm to midnight, the third watch was from 12:00 to 3 am, the 4th watch was from 3 am to 6 am.
Now I wanna say something, some people wanna say your taking this outta context, you know what this is the way it happened.
How many times have you awakened between the hours of 3 am and 6 am and you had this thought? I need to pray...
That is God, Jesus just came to you in the 4th watch.
People say your spiritualizing this, call it whatever you want to but I am telling you the Lord likes to come to us and wake us up before the sun comes up so that we can spend time with Him.
The Bible says these guys were ready for some help.
When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost!” they said, and cried out in fear.
Immediately Jesus spoke to them. “Have courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
All of a sudden Peter gets some faith
“Lord, if it’s You,” Peter answered Him, “command me to come to You on the water.”
Now you say well Peter said Lord if its you, that doesnt sound like faith, naw the faith is found in that while everyone else thought it was a ghost PETER ASSUMED IT HAD TO BE THE LORD.
None of the rest of the disciples thought that must be Jesus but Peter did.
Peter saw it before He actually saw it.
You have to see it before you see it or youll never see it.
Now everyone wants to knock Peters lack of faith, but there is only two people who ever walked on water and your not one of them. 11 men stayed in the boat ONLY ONE SAW THE MIRACLE HAPPEN BEFORE THE MIRACLE HAPPENED!
HE WALKED ON WATER!!
That ole boy loved God, He was impulsive and had a short temper but Ill take a Peter any day of the week.
If yuo wanna walk on water you gotta learn how to walk on the promises of GOd. Jesus said get out of the boat He got out of the boat He was walking on the promises of God.
Notice PETER WAS THE ONE WHO SAW JESUS BEFORE HE COULD RECOGNIZE JESUS, AND IT WAS PETER WHO SAW HIMSELF WALKING ON WATER BEFORE HE WALKED ON WATER JESUS DIDNT COMMAND PETER TO COME
PETER ASKED IF HE COULD COME NOBODY BROUGHT IT UP!
But notice something happened
But when he saw the strength of the wind, he was afraid. And beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
He stops looking at the One who controls the wind and he starts looking at the wind, he stops looking at the problem solver and starts looking at the problem.
HELLO
Isnt that what you do? you stop looking at God and you start looking at your problem, we had a great week of camp and everyone of the teenagers in my cabin were wanting to bring some of the refreshment they recieved there back home.
I WANT YOU TO KNOW SATAN HATES THAT AND THERES A STORM WIND BREWING GET READY TEENAGERS, ADULTS ARE MAKING DECISIONS TO STEP FORWARD AND LEAD IN THIS CHURCH, THERES A HEAD WIND BREWING GET READY....
DONT START LOOKING AT THE WINDS LOOK TO THE ONE WHO CONTROLS THE WINDS DONT LISTEN TO THE NAYSAYER LISTEN TO THE PROIMISES OF GOD!
You stop talking about God and start talking to God and you start talking about your problem… let me tell you about my problem oh its so bad let me call up my friends and talk about my problem and the more you do that the bigger the problem becomes.
But the more you talk to the Lord the more you talk about the Lord the more you spend time in the Lords presence the bigger God gets.
Now yo gotta make a decision on who your gone talk to and who you are talk about, you gonna focus on the problem or the problem solver, you gone focus your eyes on the storm or the storm transformer?
You dont focus on the waves you focus on the word on the Lord
But when he saw the strength of the wind, he was afraid. And beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
Immediately Jesus reached out His hand, caught hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”
Jesus didn’t ask this question because He did not know why Peter doubted, He was making a statement He was saying if you had just kept your focus on ME!
INstead of focusing on your problem everything would have been alright, for a brief moment Peter walked in the power of God for a brief moment he focused on Jesus rather than His problem.
For a brief moment he experienced life on a different plane, for a brief moment Peter walked in revival, for a brief moment Peter walked in what God wants for us on a daily basis God wants water walkers, not joy riders!
For that to happen we have to focus on Him not on our problems.
Will you focus on Him will you pray the verses of God that God has given you back to Him?
You say Kyle you dont know the storm that I am in, we have lost someone dear to us, you dont know the storm that I am in my parents are lost and I am hurting because I dont want them to die without Jesus, you dont know the storm that I am in there are people who are ready to fight me and mock me bc I am following Jesus.....
My spouse has filed for divorce, my kid is on drugs, I have lost my job
No I dont know the storm that you are in but I have been through some storms and I got news for ya the best thing for you to do when you hit a storm is you get in this book, you bury your heart and your head in this until God starts speaking to you, and you take those verses and you start praying those things back to God.
You write them down on a card whatever it is you wanna do, and all I can tell you is this, THE POWER OF GOD WILL REST ON YOU AND THE PEACE OF GOD WILL REIGN IN YOUR HEARTS!
YOUR BEST DAYS ARE AHEAD IF YOU WILL WALK BY FAITH NOT BY SIGHT....
If you will walk by faith you will have a better life than you do right now.
THE PROMISES OF GOD
- GREATER IS HE WHO IS IN ME THAN HE WHO IS IN THE WORLD
- I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME
- I WILL BE ANXIOUS FOR NOTHING BUT IN SUPPLICATION I WILL GIVE THANKS FOR EVERYTHING
- THANK YOU FOR YOUR PEACE TODAY LROD
- GOD IS FOR ME NONE CAN BE AGAINST ME
- YOU HAVE SURROUNDED ME WITH FAVOR AS A SHIELD
- I CAN SPEAK IN PRAYER TO MOUNTAINS AND THEY HAVE TO BE MOVED
- GOD IS WORKING ALL THINGS TOGETHER FOR GOOD FOR ME
- THE LATTER DAYS WILL BE GREATER THAN THE FORMER
- I WANNA THANK YOU LORD THAT YOUR GOING TO RESTORE EVERYTHING THE LOCUST HAS EATEN IN MY LIFE.
I AM MORE THAN A CONQUERER
Thats walking in faith
When you begin believing what God says about you all of a sudden you say to yourself I am not a victim I am a victor, I am surrounded by His presence, I am chosen, Redeemed , set apart, o weapon formed against me shall prosper, I AM A CHILD OF THE MOST HIGH GOD
I CAN WALK ON THE PROMISES OF GOD HIMSELF!
I HAVE A FUTURE I HAVE A HOPE AND I HAVE A PURPOSE THE STORM CANT TOUCH ME BECAUSE I HAVE SOMEONE IN THE BOAT WITH ME WHO IS USING THIS STORM TO CHANGE ME FOR THE BETTER!
LORD I AM NOT A DOUBTER I AM A BELIEVER!!!
Are some of you doubting right now?
Some of you right now think you need a vacation or this or that, let me tell you what will refresh you.... repentence and reliance in faith upon the God who loves you.
(INvitation)