Faith
Notes
Transcript
Handout
And on that day, when it was evening, he said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” And leaving the crowd, they took him along, as he was, in the boat. And other boats were with him. And a great storm of wind developed, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already being filled with water. And he was in the stern sleeping on the cushion, and they woke him up and said to him, “Teacher, is it not a concern to you that we are perishing?” And he woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Be quiet! Be silent!” And the wind abated and there was a great calm. And he said to them, “Why are you fearful? Do you not yet have faith?” And they were terribly frightened and began to say to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?”
Have you ever tried to explain faith.
For some the idea of faith comes naturally they understand it at a level that makes it easy.
For some the idea of faith is hard and always will be questioning, Faith
Sea of Galilee
Sea of Galilee
Jesus and the Disciples are preaching on one side of the lake, The Sea of Galilee.
Not a huge lake though it does cover 64 square miles. We aren’t talking even as large as lake mead.
It is located some seven hundred feet below sea level and has hills surrounding it.
The eastern side has particularly steep set of hills.
Jesus is preaching probably on the Northwestern Shore and has just delivered his sermon on the mount. The crowd is getting a bit thick so they decide lets sail to the other side.
As they are crossing a cold wind shoots through the gaps in the hills and collides with the warm air over the lake.
This is something that is common in this sea.
It happens as Jesus rest and before the disciples have time to put ashore.
Which is one of the dangers of crossing the lake
That cold and warm air mix and cause a whirlwind
This is the same type weather pattern that over land causes tornadoes. We don’t always have a lot of warning now especially before Doppler radar which won’t be discovered until 1842. It has changed a lot since then.
If it was over an ocean this kind of behavior builds to a hurricane.
Over the sea of Galilee it’s a mighty fine storm
And they are stuck out in the middle
In A Fishing Boat
A first century fishing boat is probably about the size of a delivery truck.
As they are going to be turned over and drown, Jesus sleeps. I think we are supposed to be reminded of another person that is asleep on a boat, Jonah. Who has to sacrifice himself to God’s will to calm the storm. Here we have another prophet who is God and can control the storm. Something all the prayers couldn’t do in the story of Jonah.
When the Disciples wake Jesus he calms the winds and chides them about their faith
I can relate to the disciples, Can’t you
I can’t imagine I would be like “just let him sleep he’s had a hard day we’ll just see what happens”. I would be doing everything I could to stay afloat and Jesus would probably ask me about my faith
Faith in the Storm
Faith in the Storm
This passage is about Faith in the storm.
It can be hard to have faith in the storms. Two types of people run to God in the storm and away in the good, or run to God in the good and I can get myself out of the bad.
What is faith?
What is faith?
According to the bible in Hebrews 11: Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
According to the dictionary, Its complete trust or confidence in someone or something
A lot of nonbelievers especially atheist have issues with faith
why, because how can you put your faith in something that can’t be seen or tested. It is easy to put your faith in a person who has been tested and you can see how they will react and know their limitations. It’s easy to put your faith in something that you can prove or that you can scientifically test. It is hard to put you faith in things that defy that
You can’t prove (or disprove) God.
It is especially hard to have faith during hard times, when it seems that God is silent. When there is so much trouble and suffering you can’t hear God. When you’re not sure He’s there.
I know a young lady who use to believe in God until she was raped by her biological mothers boyfriends. And was taken away by the state eventually and her big question is all the times that I prayed God to save me and He never did. She was removed from the home and placed with a good family but the damage was already done. She found that she didn’t have enough faith to believe anymore.
I pray she will see God’s love even in the face of the suffering this monster put her through.
Faith can be hard.
Where is your faith?
And sometimes the hardest time for faith is when things are going Good
When you have no troubles and it is easy to “forget” that this blessing is from God Faith, Complete Trust in God
Sometimes we find our faith not as strong and not complete trust but partial trust
The Goal is complete trust
When you look at your life is there an area of your life that does not show complete trust in God?
So the other disciples said to him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and put my finger into the mark of the nails, and put my hand into his side, I will never believe!”
God can handle your doubt.
Steps to strengthen your faith
Steps to strengthen your faith
Scripture calls Abraham the father of those who believe (Gal 3:7). He is our father of faith. However, even though Abraham was an example of faith, he still struggled with doubt. In Genesis 15 we see Abraham struggling with his faith, as God promises him a son and his descendants will be like the stars in the heavens.
Be Transparent with God. Don’t hide you struggles
Respond to God in Faith. If you want to strengthen you faith you must act on faith. That means you must first have faith. Have you ABC. Matthew 13:12 says, “Whoever has will be given more, and he will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken from him.”
As we have faith and we respond in faith we must be Obedient in faith. We must act upon our faith. Many times when struggling with our faith, our obedience to God falters. We stop going to church, stop reading our Bible, stop praying, and drop out of fellowship. This is not the way to strengthen our faith; it is the path way to destroying our faith.
Persevere through struggle. Romans 5:3–4 says, “Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.” “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” (James 1:3–4)
Be Patient. Abraham father of the faith waited and waited. Slaves in Egypt waited 400 years. We are waiting on the second coming.
Study God’s Word and Know God
Experience God. Through Worship, through being righteous, Through Fellowship
How is your faith today ?
Bibliography
Bibliography
Hubbard, Shiloh, Elliot Ritzema, Corbin Watkins, and Lazarus Wentz with Logos Bible Software and KarBel Media. Faithlife Study Bible Infographics. Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2012.
Faithlife Corporation. “Jesus Calms a Storm and Expels a Demonic Legion.” Logos Bible Software, Computer software. Logos Bible Software Atlas. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife Corporation, April 20, 2020. https://ref.ly/logos4/Atlas?IsLegendExpanded=false&IsMediaCollectionExpanded=false&MapId=JESUSCALMSASTORMANDEXPELSADEMONICLEGION-EN&MapStyleKind=Terrain.
https://bible.org/seriespage/6-how-strengthen-our-faith-genesis-157-21