Sermon Title: Why are you so afraid?
Question from Jesus • Sermon • Submitted
0 ratings
· 16 viewsWhen life is hard, we often feel so alone. In this message, we will see a MAJOR storm hit the lives of Jesus’ closest friends. They thought they were going to die. And we will see Jesus ask this important question, “Why are you so afraid.” Come listen to how knowing the answer to this question can change our lives.
Notes
Transcript
Handout
April 3rd, 2022
Series: Questions from Jesus
Sermon Title: Why are you so afraid?
Topic: Major questions Jesus asks us and how knowing the answer can transform our lives.
Key Passages: Mark 4: 35-41, John 16:33, Psalm 46:1, Psalm 23, James 1: 2-4
Sermon Blurb: When life is hard, we often feel so alone. In this message, we will see a MAJOR storm hit the lives of Jesus’ closest friends. They thought they were going to die. And we will see Jesus ask this important question, “Why are you so afraid.” Come listen to how knowing the answer to this question can change our lives.
Sermon:
Family Moment
Hello Family Church!!!
I have to say I am excited for this weekend because this weekend we launch into a new series….
But let me encourage you….if you have missed the last 3 sermon series here at Family Church to please go listen to them online. I really think we have started off this year STRONG in making 2022 a year unlike any other!
We started the year out by talking about the basics of our faith.
In February we talked about focusing on becoming intentional authors of our lives.
In March we talked about leadership lessons we could learn from Nehemiah and dove into the capital campaign to keep growing as a church!
This month we are going to focus in on some key teachings for Jesus as we lead up to Easter.
Then Next month we will celebrate Mother’s day!
And then we will finally get into the book of Acts and begin walking through that….which I am SUPER excited about!!!!!
PAUSE
We are going to call this sermon series, “Questions from Jesus.”
You know who I have found to be good question asking people?
Counselors….
Now, I don’t know how many of you have ever been in counseling before.
As a kid, I actually had to go to counseling, and I will admit the only part of it I liked was when I got to open the “treasure box” at the end and pick out a prize if I was good.
I didn’t know it at the time….but you can really overcome a lot of baggage when we find someone who’s wiser than you to help you get redirected in life.
As a Pastor, I have had to do my fair share of counseling, and in seminary, it was the focus of many of the courses.
One of the things we were taught in seminary was how to sit silently and listen….how not to fear that awkward silence…..and how to turn the questions back around to the one asking the questions….
What I didn’t realize was this ----- that the best way to find the truth is often on the other side of a good question.
When we look at Jesus and how he handled many situations…we find that often he was the one asking the questions; not answering them.
You all know how much I love the Bible….and I say all the time that if we just read it we can find all the answers we need…..
Well in this series we are not looking for answers……we are looking for good questions….
Because those questions will lead us to the answers we need!
In the Bible, we have the Gospel…. Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John..
Those are also the first 4 books of the New Testament.
As we read Jesus’ word’s in the Gospels we notice something interesting…..anyone want to guess what it is????
Jesus asked lots of questions!!!
OVER and OVER and OVER again.
You can barely read one conversation before you see Jesus throwing a question back at those who were asking Him questions.
Jesus asked so many questions… But why? Why questions and not just answers?
Well, this month we are going to look at four of the most important questions that Jesus asked.
PAUSE
Today we are beginning with one of those question many ask when they are in the middle of a trial.
What we need to ask when we are in the middle of a storm.
What we need to ask when it seems like there is NO light at the end of the tunnel.
PAUSE
We are going to find that in situations like that, Jesus asks the question, “Why are you so afraid?”
If you have your Bible with you, please open it up to the Gospel of Mark 4.
New Person Bible / App talk
As you find Mark in your Bibles; let me give you some background to make sure we are all starting at the same place.
In Mark chapter 4. We find Jesus actually teaching from a boat.
People were gathered on shore listening to him teach.
And fishermen check this out…did you know Jesus did not have a pulpit like most preachers do….….I can only think of 1 time in scripture where Jesus would have spoken from behind a pulpit….
Fishermen…. Jesus’s pulpit at this point in time was a boat!
Fishermen…. Jesus pulpit was FAR MORE often a boat than it ever way a pulpit in a church…..
Fishermen do you realize that as you fish your sitting in a pulpit!!!! So maybe you will want to be a little more careful what you say next time that big fish gets away…..
LAUGH!!!!!
PAUSE
In the first 34 verses of Mark chapter 4, Jesus tells all kinds of awesome parables that Pastor Adam has talked about before when walking through the life of Jesus…..
Today, we are going to pick up Jesus’ words in
Mark 4:35 “Let us go over to the other side.”
At this point, the boat, Jesus’ pulpit, is about to become His sermon illustration.
Mark 4: 35-41 Jesus Calms the Storm
35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him.
Here is when it gets interesting….
37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.
Pause for a second….
Now, I don’t know if any of you have ever been in a boat that you thought was going to sink. I have….. and I call it one of my “Just like I was with Jesus’ moments.”
It is good that my mom is not here today to hear this story; because I don’t think she knows it….
I was about 16 and I was staying up in the UP with my Papa….and well……….. see I thought I was a master angler….so one day I took off very early in the morning on the lake by myself….
I got to the other side where the fishing is good and then… the wind started blowing…and a storm was coming in….and then it started raining and the waves were starting to roll……….and I remember hitting that trolling motor into high gear as I was crying and thinking I was going to die on the lake….
So more or less I was just like the disciples at this point!
PAUSE
Maybe you have never come close to dying in a boat….but you have been on a plane where there’s massive turbulence…..and what happens to everyone?
Christian or not you call out to God, everyone suddenly starts whispering a prayer, right?
PAUSE
Well in Mark we read……..People were yelling, “JESUS!!! Please, save me!!!”
And on that plane, the person next to you who earlier in the flight told you she was an Atheist starts screaming….PRAY FOR ME TOO!!!!
And so, this is the same type of situation, where they’re thinking, this is the end.
When panic sets in, we think we’re going to drown, that is where the disciples are
Maybe you are in the same place in your life today.
You have no idea how you are going to make it through what you are going through today….if so listen to what Jesus says and does….
Verse 38
38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion.
Now hang on….remember the panic of people on the movie Titanic…..
Remember the panic of people in the movie Snakes On A Plane……
This is what is going on in the boat…EVERY is in a PANIC!!!
And Jesus is on a pillow taking a cat nap!
Let’s keep reading….
The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
40 He said to his disciples,
He said what, everyone say it with me:
“Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
It’s like Jesus was saying……
Guys, seriously I’m on this boat with you.
You’ve seen Me do some great things……
You have seen me do miracles!
Why are you freaking out?
Verse 41:
41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
Now let me put this into perspective….
Here is a picture of the Sea of Galilee… it is about 680 feet below sea level, and it’s surrounded by mountains.
Storms can blow up out of nowhere in that area.
It’s very, very common for a storm to explode into the Sea of Galilee, with very little warning.
To help you put yourself in their shoes…..Imagine how suddenly a tornado can be there out of nowhere…..
It’s a terrifying feeling when it sounds like there’s a train coming toward you, and this massive storm comes out of nowhere.
That is what happened to these guys…
PAUSE
This is just like life, right?
Sometimes life can be so good, so normal, and then out of nowhere some storm comes into your life and you’re scared!
It could be, you’re having the best sales month of your career, and then you find out your company’s laying people off.
Out of nowhere, things were great, and then – Boom! – you could be out of a job.
Teens, you’re in school and everything is going great! You’re doing great in sports, your grades are doing fine, and it seems to all be on track!
Then you end up at the wrong party….and you get caught…..and suddenly everything is in jeopardy….
It could be, your marriage is better than it ever has been, and you think, “WOW, we’re finally clicking on all cylinders.”
Then your spouse goes to the doctor to check something out, and, suddenly, you’ve got horrible news. And it just comes out of nowhere, and you feel like the rug’s been pulled out from under you, and you don’t even know how you’re going to make it.
Or you think your child is doing well. You prayed so much and worked with your child. You think, Okay, they’re finally on the right track.
And then, you find out the truth. Your child is making bad decisions, and suddenly you’re in the middle of a storm.
PAUSE
Let’s just be real for a second.
Church people are sometimes the best at hiding the storms that they’re in.
Some of you, right now, look totally fine on the outside, but behind your smile, you’re in the middle of a storm, and maybe nobody even knows about it!
I’ve seen times where people are jealous of other people, thinking, “I wish I had their life. I wish I lived in that house.”
And the person you are jealous of is thinking, “I’m two payments behind on this house, and I may lose it, and nobody even knows the private storm that I’m going through.”
Sometimes people look around and think, “I wish I had a marriage like that. I mean, they seem to get along so well.”
And that person in that perfect marriage is thinking, “We are barely hanging on by a thread.”
Sometimes, you cry yourself to sleep. You feel so alone.
Sometimes even the pressure of good things feels like way too much.
And even though you’re blessed in many different ways, you think, “There’s no way I can keep going at this pace.”
I have seen plenty of people get so involved in doing good things that they burn out on life!
Even good things can be bad if we don’t control ourselves.
And so, you put on a smile (SMILE BIG!!!!), and yet, on the inside, you’re in a storm, and nobody knows about it.
PAUSE
How many of you would say that, right now, you, or somebody close to you, is in the middle of a storm right now?
Here is what I want all of us here to understand. We are not designed to live life on an island!
We are designed to work together!
You need to let other people know what is going on in your life so they can help you!
PAUSE
In Mark 4, Jesus asks this piercing question, “Why are you so afraid?”
And since I know at different times, we all walk in fear….I want to give you, two things to remember when you’re in the storm….and you’re afraid…
Two things to remember and embrace when you’re in the storm.
First, and I hope this is good news to you.
1. In the storms of life, Jesus is there.
Repeat
You’re in the storm but never forget Jesus is there with you!
Look at Verse 37, “A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.”
No one is saying this is good!
This is NOT GOOD!
But we saw, in verse 38, Jesus was – where?
Let’s all say it together….put the next verse on the screens….
“Jesus was in the stern.”
Where was Jesus?
Jesus was in the stern.
Jesus was in the boat.
Here’s what I hear people say all the time. “If I’m walking with Jesus, there SHOULDN’T be a storm.”
Or “I gave my life to Jesus, therefore it should be smooth sailing, for the rest of my life.”
I need to tell you, that’s just not true!
We live in a broken…sin-filled world…. And at some point there will be a storm in your life….
The Bible does NOT say we are promised an easy life!
Jesus said, John 16:33, “"I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."
Jesus never promised if you come to Him, life will be easy, or that it will be storm-free.
I tell new Christians this;
When you move from not believing in Jesus to believing in Jesus.
You are stepping into the middle of a spiritual battle.
Christianity is not a playground, but a battleground between forces of evil and forces of good.
When you step onto the side of the good, suddenly evil is against you, and you will face opposition…you will face temptation…there will be spiritual warfare.
Just like Pastor Adam talked about last month….
But stay with me because there is GOOD NEWS!!!
Write this down:
God never promises us that because Jesus is on the boat, that the storms of life will never rock you.
What God promises is, the storms of life will never sink you!
Repeat
Remember God is for you, and God is with you.
Jesus was in the stern.
Jesus was on the boat.
And that fact is the game-changer.
At some point, you’re going to be in the middle of a storm, and it’s going to get really, really bad.
But here is what I pray people looking at you say:
How are you getting through that?
How are you enduring this?
How come your world’s falling apart, and yet, you’re not falling apart?
How come everything’s going wrong, and yet, you still have this quiet confidence?
Why is it that you’re in the middle of this storm, and there’s this deep assurance?
Why is it that you have this peace in the middle of the storm?”
PAUSE
I mean think about Pastor Adam…and his family…..they are away as a family for the FIRST time in OVER a year….because his son Wyatt got diagnosed with cancer over a year ago….
I know a lot of you are looking at Pastor Adam and Jenny and Wyatt to see how they process this in life…..
I know a lot of us have been inspired at how they have handled it!
PAUSE
And I know if Pastor Adam were here he would hope we would look at what they are going to through and say…. They are responding they way they are
Because the Author of their story is with then in the cancer boat.
His presence is with us.
Because Jesus is in my boat.
And because Jesus is with me,
I can sense His strength,
I can sense His presence,
I can sense His power,
I can have His comfort,
Because Jesus is in the boat with me.
Just because I’m in a storm doesn’t mean I’m losing my faith in God.
PAUSE
Never let the presence of a storm cause you to doubt the presence of God!
Don’t ever let the presence of a storm cause you to doubt the presence of God.
When you get to that place where you might be struggling feeling God’s presence why don’t you personalize Scripture and pray it over yourself?
Let me give you two examples from Psalm 46:1…when you’re in the storm we personal personalize Scripture…
Psalm 46:1, God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
When you are in a storm say.
God is my refuge.
God is my strength.
God is my ever-present help in a time of trouble.
God is with me in the storm.
Psalm 23: Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
You can say….
I walk THROUGH the valley of death!
I’m not staying in the valley of death!!!
I’m walking through.
And when I’m walking through, it says
I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
I will fear no evil. Why church what does it say?
Because of my Jesus in the valley with me!
God never, promised that the storm wouldn’t be intense!
But He promised that the storm wouldn’t sink you.
Jesus is on the boat…. We are not alone in the middle of the storm.
Family Church, I pray that you find comfort, no matter what you’re going
through, that you realize Jesus is there with you in the storm.
PAUSE
The second thing, if you’re taking notes…..
Two things to remember and embrace when you’re in the storm.
2. You’re in the storm for God’s purpose.
You’re in the storm with His presence, and you’re in the storm for His purpose.
Go back to the start of this passage….it was Jesus’ idea to go to the other side.
Why was He taking them to the other side?
Well, Jesus was God in the flesh, and He was in tune with what God the Father wanted him to do while he was here on earth.
See on the east side of the sea, was a guy who was hurting himself because he was possessed with an evil spirit.
And Jesus was taking the disciples to the other side because Jesus was going to speak healing into this guy’s life.
And DO NOT MISS that along the way……on their way to do GOOD…….there came a storm!
PAUSE
Has that ever happened to you?
You’re on your way to do good and a storm hits you?
Does that cause you to stop and question God’s existence or does it cause you to stop and seek where Jesus is in the storm and what you can learn from it?
We could say that we encounter storms because we are out of God’s will. Or are we actually in the storm because we are in God’s will?
Now, some of you are going to say, “Oh, so what you’re telling me is that God caused this storm!”
I am not saying God caused the storm….
But I can tell you that God always uses the storm to do a work inside of us.
That is exactly what James the brother of Jesus tells us.
James 1: 2-4 “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds …”
Hold up….That sounds ridiculous!
Do you rejoice in the middle of storms?
That’s what James says….. But why?
verse 3…. Because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.
Some of you, right now, guess what?
You are in the middle of a test.
And think about it…..Why does ANY good teacher test you?
TEACHERS out there today….why do you test people?
To pass you and promote you … Right?
At the end of the year, you take a final exam, and if you pass the test, you move to a new grade or level.
And God, in His love, maybe allowing you to experience something, even testing your faith, promoting you to another level of belief, and this faith produces perseverance, something living inside of you.
James says in verse 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
For some of you, I would say the difference between where you are, and where God ultimately wants you to be, is the storm that you have yet to endure.
PAUSE
Let’s go back to the boat on the Sea of Galilee.
The disciple’s faith was not fully in tune with the One in the boat and so they’re panicking – “Jesus, we’re going to drown! Wake up, Jesus! Wake up!”
And what does Jesus do? I love this put verse 39 on the screens.
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
We have no idea what that looked like….
I imagine Jesus standing up…. stretching… looking perplexed at the disciples and then out at the water…. waving his hand like we would to a fly he says, “Be still!”
PAUSE
The wind dies down, and it’s completely calm. The sea becomes like glass…
Then, Jesus looks at His disciples and says in verse 40
40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
This would conjure up thoughts in the disciples like:
Don’t you remember Me opening blind eyes?
Don’t you remember Me healing the sick?
Don’t you remember Me restoring hearing to the deaf?
Don’t you remember that I’m the author of life?
Then Jesus says, “Do you still have no faith?’”
And then it says
41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
I want us to notice a shift here with the people following Jesus….
What did they call Jesus in verse 38???? “Teacher!
At this point, Jesus was just their Teacher.
This is the turning point from teacher to LORD…
A storm of life showed then Jesus was God!
Those of you who are right now in a storm.
You might be in this storm so God becomes REAL to you…just like it took a storm for God to be real to them!
Here is your life application…..
Life Application
When life is hard, we often feel so alone. When the next storm of life comes; intentionally look for Jesus more and see what happens! Remember He is there and His help can make all the difference!
Let’s Pray…..