JESUS LOVES PEOPLE IN THE MIDST OF THEIR STORMS (Mark 6:45-52)

Pastor Henry J. Payden, Jr., Senior Pastor-Teacher, First Baptist Church of Malvern, OH

Loving People Jesus Loves • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago

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Learning to Love is nothing if Love has no evidence.

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Intro:

The photographer for a national magazine was assigned to get photos of a great forest fire. Smoke at the scene hampered him and he asked his home office to hire a plane. Arrangements were made and he was told to go at once to a nearby airport, where the plane would be waiting. When he arrived at the airport, a plane was warming up near the runway. He jumped in with his equipment and yelled, "Let's go! Let's go!" The pilot swung the plane into the wind and they soon were in the air.

"Fly over the north side of the fire," yelled the photographer, "and make three or four low level passes."

"Why?" asked the pilot.

"Because I'm going to take pictures," cried the photographer. "I'm a photographer and photographers take pictures!"

After a pause the pilot said, "You mean you're not the instructor?"

Sermon Theme: Jesus allows for storms in order to teach us that He controls and overcomes our troubles.

Sermon Objective: To teach God’s Flock that…ministry is learning to trust the Presence of Christ in our dark and stormy moments.

Bridge: Even though we are starting a New Year, we are continuing our search for understanding just how much, and in what ways, Jesus loves people of every walk of life, every type of sinner, every type of person in all kinds of troubles that come in life.

He in turn would have those who truly love Him, to learn of Him and become like as He is. This means learning Agape love not in words, but in deeds. He has taught them to depend upon Him to feed multitudes of people, both physically and spiritually. He wants them to be fully confident in serving Him, and depending upon Him for every type of ministry that He alone decides…1 Corinthians 12:11 “But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually just as He wills.”

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~ hjpjr ~ Jesus loves his disciples and knows that in order for them to do become faithful to His will, He must allow them to be tested, so that their ignorance will become confidence, and so that their faith will become strong. Therefore, He is preparing them on and in their journey of learning to be as He is in all things...

1. (v.45-46) - HE INTERCEDES FOR THEIR JOURNEY -

From anticipation, to disappointment, to fear, and to doubt, we come upon the disciples who need to grow in their faith in the midst of a flurry of difficult emotions…Yet Jesus is always interceding for His own, especially when they journey through the storms of life.

A. (v.45) - They were concerned about leaving Him behind - Mark 6:45 “Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go ahead of Him to the other side to Bethsaida, while He Himself was sending the crowd away.”

[Immediately - a consistent phrase in Mark’s Gospel. (Check Logos) A faithful Servant, like Jesus, is “immediate”(true) in everything He endeavors. There is no unnecessary delay in doing God’s Will. He is ‘straightforward’ about everything He does, and does so with the Father’s will always before Him…]

“made” - ‘compelled’

B. (v.46) - They, like the people, may have thought the Kingdom would suddenly appear - Mark 6:46 “After bidding them farewell, He left for the mountain to pray.”

The crowd - John 6:14-15 “Therefore when the people saw the sign which He had performed, they said, “This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world.” So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone.”

~ hjpjr ~ His praying had everything to do with His disciples

(Mark 1:35 NLT — Before daybreak the next morning, Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray.).

~ hjpjr ~ We learn in this passage that Jesus, in His humanity, was disciplined about prayer and the need to be prayed up throughout the course of a day. His humanity is well described in…(Philippians 2:5-8 NLT — You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.)

~ hjpjr ~ Certainly He knew what was coming, but He was dependent upon His Father in Heaven to empower Him to serve and to battle against the unseen forces of the Darkness. Mark 4:39 “And He got up and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, “Hush, be still.” And the wind died down and it became perfectly calm.”

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(v.45-46) - HE INTERCEDES FOR THEIR JOURNEY -

2. (v.47-50) - HE INTRUDES INTO THEIR TROUBLES -

A. (v.47) - He is always near & concerned - Mark 6:47 “When it was evening, the boat was in the middle of the sea, and He was alone on the land.”

♤Three challenging things were happening at this moment for the disciples:

· It was “Evening” – Darkness

· The boat was “in the middle of the sea” – Trouble & Difficulty

· Jesus was “alone on the land” – They were Separated from God

♡Three things they needed to remember in this moment:

· The First thing they need to remember is that, Jesus told them that they are the light of the world…Matthew 5:14 NASB95 — “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;

· He later told them that He/Jesus is the Light of the World: John 8:12 NASB95 — Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

· Therefore, With us being Light, and Him being light, no darkness will ever overcome us! We need to make this our daily confidence!

· Second, when we see ourselves in the midst of trouble & difficulty, and it feels as though the darkness, the trouble and the difficulty will overwhelm us, we need to remember that Jesus is standing by!

· Third, when we see that it is dark, and we see that trouble and difficulty is stirring, and we know that Jesus is always near, then we will realize that He is always a prayer away! It is in these moments that the disciples of Christ learn to cry out to Him, knowing that Jesus is watching, concerned, and He will come to your rescue!

B. (v.48) - He is always near & mindful -

Mark 6:48 “Seeing them straining at the oars, for the wind was against them, at about the fourth watch of the night He came to them, walking on the sea; and He intended to pass by them.”

Was Jesus testing them by meaning to pass by them?

Luke 24:28 “And they approached the village where they were going, and He acted as though He were going farther.”

Genesis 32:26 “Then he said, “Let me go, for the dawn is breaking.” But he said, “I will not let you go unless you bless me.””

C. (v.49-50a) - He is not to be mistaken in the midst of Trouble -

Mark 6:49-50 “But when they saw Him walking on the sea, they supposed that it was a ghost, and cried out; for they all saw Him and were terrified.”

Fear can cause mistaken identity. This is about ‘knowing’ Jesus in the midst of trouble. To know Him, is to trust Him, when we cannot see what is before us.

Trouble is enough to deal with by itself. Uncontrollable fear, adds to our troubles. Confidence in God’s Presence gives us peace in the midst of the storm. Even though we know that there are no such things as ghosts, fear can make us respond like we’ve seen something that isn’t real. When we look unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, we can be confident that ‘trouble don’t last always’!

Jesus made these ‘terrified’ men into those whom the world became terrified of! Once they finally began to understand His will, they turned the world upside.

D. (v.50b) - He Gives Peace in the Midst of Trouble - “But immediately He spoke with them and said to them, “Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.””

~ hjpjr ~ Jesus asserts two important points for His disciples to remember: 1) “It is I” - Remember that Jesus is God.

~ hjpjr ~ Here, we must briefly go to Matthew’s account in Chapter 14:28-31, 28 Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” 29 And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!” 31 Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, “You of little faith, why did you doubt?”

~ hjpjr ~ Our troubles require faith in Jesus’ Presence! Doubt causes us to sink!

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(v.45-46) - HE INTERCEDES FOR THEIR JOURNEY -

(v.47-50) - HE INTRUDES INTO THEIR TROUBLES -

3. (v.51-52) - HE ENCOMPASSES THEM WITH HIS PEACE -

A. (v.51a) - All Disturbances Cease with His Presence -

John 6:21 “So they were willing to receive Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.”

B. (v.51b) - All Occasion for Worship is with His Presence -

Matthew 14:33 “And those who were in the boat worshiped Him, saying, “You are certainly God’s Son!””

C. (v.52) - All Occasion for Understanding in His Presence-

JFB = “What a singular statement! The meaning seems to be that if they had but ‘considered [reflected upon] the miracle of the loaves,” wrought but a few hours before, they would have wondered at nothing which He might do within the whole circle of power and grace.”

The key to doing any kind of Christian service, or ministry, is to do so “Remembering” Who Christ is and what He can do for you and for others!

When something seems hopeless, with Jesus, there is Hope!

When something seems unchangeable, with Jesus, there is necessary change!

When something seems too hard to overcome, we are more than conquerors through Him who loves us!

Is There Anything too Hard for God?

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📷 Final Story:

📷 Verdict:

📷 ~ [Roman Road to Salvation, The Gospel]:

Short Version: 📷 You Need to Know that You are a Condemned Sinner: Romans 3:23, 23“…for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” You Need to Know that God Loves You and wants to Save You Right Now: Romans 5:8, “8But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” 📷 You Need to Call on The Name of Jesus to be Saved Right Now: Romans 10:13, 13“for “WHOEVER WILL CALL ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.” 📷 You Need to Belong to a Church Family: Romans 10:17, 17“So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.”

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