(soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) - Good morning, Church family. Happy Lord's Day.

We will now begin our service. (soft piano music) (soft piano music) ♪ I hear the Savior sing ♪ ♪ Night stream into the sky ♪ ♪ Child of weakness, watch and hide ♪ ♪ Blinded me, thine all in all ♪ ♪ Jesus paid it all ♪ ♪ All to Him I give ♪ ♪ Sin hath left a crimson stain ♪ ♪ He washed it white as snow ♪ (soft piano music) (soft piano music) - Lord, now.

♪ Lord, how indeed I thank ♪ ♪ Thy power in that alone ♪ ♪ Can change the life response ♪ ♪ Heaven and earth a heart of stone ♪ ♪ Jesus paid it all ♪ ♪ All to Him I owe ♪ ♪ Sin hath left a crimson stain ♪ ♪ He washed it white as snow ♪ ♪ Jesus paid it all ♪ ♪ All to Him I give ♪ ♪ Sin hath left a crimson stain ♪ ♪ He washed it white as snow ♪ (soft piano music) (soft piano music) ♪ He was bled before the throne ♪ ♪ I'm standing in the grave ♪ ♪ Jesus died my soul to sin ♪ ♪ My name shall still remain ♪ ♪ Jesus paid it all ♪ ♪ All to Him I give ♪ ♪ Sin hath left a crimson stain ♪ ♪ He washed it white as snow ♪ (soft piano music) ♪ Jesus paid it all ♪ ♪ All to Him I owe ♪ ♪ Sin hath left a crimson stain ♪ ♪ He washed it white as snow ♪ ♪ Jesus paid it all ♪ ♪ All to Him I owe ♪ ♪ Sin hath left a crimson stain ♪ ♪ He washed it white as snow ♪ - All right, good morning, and welcome to Beroean Community Church.

Let me give you a few announcements before we get started. Again, I wanna thank you for your prayers for our Korea Mission team. And we know we gave an update last week, so I'm not gonna get into any of it other than the fact that thank you for your prayers.

And I was very concerned about my knees when I left, and so I know a lot of people were praying for me. And every day, you know, it got better as I was walking, and so I was able to make it through the trip. So thank you for your prayers for that.

We made some really important contacts while we were there with some university professors who are asking us to come and to help reach the campuses, 'cause the campuses are basically, right now the country, supposedly around 30 to 33% claim to be Christians, but on campus, they say anywhere from three, and the professors think it's even less than 1%.

And so they're completely losing the next generation. And so the professors who are missionaries on campus, who are professors there, are asking us to come and help them reach the students there with our English program. And so we'll see what that leads to, but again, it was a very fruitful trip, and we wanna thank you all for your prayers and support through that.

Today, after the second service at 1 p.m., we have a Jubilee Fellowship. Jubilee are people who are 50 and over at church, and I know a lot of people who come to church and think there's 50 and over people at our church. You'd be surprised how many people are over 50 in our church.

So we're gathering together for the purpose of getting to know each other and fellowship. And so at 1 p.m. at Bill Barber Park, there's gonna be lunch provided, and it's $10 for the lunch, and then it's a casual time of just fellowshiping and getting to know the other people in our similar life stage.

So that'll happen after second service at Bill Barber Park. If you wanna know where that is, or you're not familiar with the area, just go to the welcome table or ask somebody that looks your age, and they'll be able to help you to know where that is, okay? Fig Ministry.

This is a family in God ministry. If you're not part of the FAM 245, newly married, or you're not part of the Jubilee ministry, this ministry basically is all the family ministry for you. This is a new ministry that started this year. Our brother Dean and Helen are overseeing that, and they're taking sign-ups for the next stage, the third round of Bible reading through Colossians to Revelation.

It's starting on August 1st. So they'll put you into a small group of people where you're reading through scripture together, and for the purpose of fellowship, but meaningful fellowship, as you're reading through scripture together. So if you signed up for that, for the previous one, and you want to go continue, please re-sign up, and if you want to join in at this point, again, you're welcome to join as well.

So please sign up for that. I think there are sign-up tables. As you're walking outside, there'll be tables for you to be able to visit. Cleaning and Maintenance Day at church on August 10th at 9 a.m. This is a Saturday, and so this happens either biannually or quarterly, I forget.

But if you can come and help us that day, at 9 a.m. on Saturday, if you just show up, they'll tell you what to do, and it'll be for a couple hours, and that'll help us to kind of maintain our church facility. And then lastly, Family Ministry Summer Retreat that's happening on August 16th through the 18th.

The theme is God's Design for Marriage, and Dr. John Street is gonna be coming on the Design for Marriage. And Dr. John Street, as some of you guys know, when we had our all-church retreat a few years ago, he spoke on the subject of reconciliation and repentance, and I think it was very impactful for our church.

The other topic that Dr. John Street is really known for is this topic on marriage. And so if you haven't signed up, there's a few more spaces for you to be able to come. We're almost booked, but if you are planning to come, please do not hesitate, and we wanna encourage you guys to come and benefit from the teaching and the sessions that we'll have there.

But that weekend, we will have a regular service here, okay? Only second and third service, though. We won't be having first service, but only second and third service. So if you're normally coming to second service, it wouldn't affect you. If you normally come to first service, that weekend, we won't have service at 8 a.m., okay?

And there's no childcare happening because all the family and all the people who are helping out with Sunday school will be up at the retreat site, and so just keep that in mind. We'll remind you as we get closer to the date, but that's happening on August 16th and 18th, that weekend.

Okay? All right, let me pray for us and give you an opportunity to give online, and then if you brought a physical check or a physical offering, we do have a box in the back. As you're walking out, you'll see it to the right, and you can visit that as you're on your way out.

All right, let me pray for us. Father, we thank you so much for your blessing. Thank you for the things that we are aware of and the many things, Lord God, that you are orchestrating that we oftentimes miss. Help us to have greater faith. Help us to have greater vision.

That we would not be entangled with civilian affairs. That we would truly give ourselves, Lord God, to you and to your cause. That as you have come to seek and save the lost, that we would be a church, Lord God, that joins your work. We pray for your grace as we continue to come to worship you.

That our offering, our singing, our fellowship, all of it, Lord God, may be given to you in spirit and in truth. And even this offering that we give may be given in thankfulness, as an expression of your lordship and your life that you've given us, and may it be multiplied for the sake of your kingdom.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen. (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) (soft piano music) - Let us all rise and let's spend a few moments to greet the neighbors around us before we continue.

(soft piano music) (soft piano music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) ♪ Sing you are holy ♪ ♪ You are holy ♪ ♪ You are holy ♪ ♪ You are mighty ♪ ♪ You are mighty ♪ ♪ You are worthy ♪ ♪ You are worthy ♪ ♪ Worthy of praise ♪ ♪ Worthy of praise ♪ ♪ I will follow you ♪ ♪ I will follow you ♪ ♪ I will listen ♪ ♪ I will listen ♪ ♪ I will love you ♪ ♪ I will love you ♪ ♪ All of my days ♪ ♪ All of my days ♪ ♪ I will stand tall ♪ ♪ You are king of kings ♪ ♪ You are mighty God ♪ ♪ Lord of everything ♪ ♪ You are in every one ♪ ♪ Of the three I am ♪ ♪ You are God of days ♪ ♪ You are in the land ♪ ♪ You are savior ♪ ♪ You are savior ♪ ♪ You are worship ♪ ♪ You are people ♪ ♪ You are people ♪ ♪ You are ancient of days ♪ ♪ You are Alpha ♪ ♪ You are Alpha ♪ ♪ Omega ♪ ♪ Omega ♪ ♪ Beginning and end ♪ ♪ Beginning and end ♪ ♪ You are King of the Zion ♪ ♪ You are King of the Zion ♪ ♪ Redeemer and friend ♪ ♪ Redeemer and friend ♪ ♪ You are Prince of Peace ♪ ♪ You are Prince of Peace ♪ ♪ And I will live my life for You ♪ ♪ You are holy ♪ ♪ You are holy ♪ ♪ You are holy ♪ ♪ You are mighty ♪ ♪ You are mighty ♪ ♪ You are worthy ♪ ♪ You are worthy ♪ ♪ Worthy of praise ♪ ♪ Worthy of praise ♪ ♪ I will love You ♪ ♪ I will love You ♪ ♪ I will bless You ♪ ♪ I will bless You ♪ ♪ I will love You ♪ ♪ I will love You ♪ ♪ All of my days ♪ ♪ All of my days ♪ ♪ I will sing to You ♪ ♪ I will worship You ♪ ♪ You are mighty God ♪ ♪ Lord of every ♪ ♪ You are in heaven ♪ ♪ I adore You ♪ ♪ I am ♪ ♪ I will bow down ♪ ♪ You live the land ♪ ♪ I will sing in trust ♪ ♪ I will worship ♪ ♪ You will live forever ♪ ♪ You are ancient ♪ ♪ You are living ♪ ♪ You are magic ♪ ♪ I will love You ♪ ♪ Omega ♪ ♪ I adore You ♪ ♪ Beginning and end ♪ ♪ I adore You ♪ ♪ I will love You ♪ ♪ I will sing of Messiah ♪ ♪ You're my peace ♪ ♪ I will sing of Messiah ♪ ♪ You're my prince of peace ♪ ♪ I will live my life for You ♪ ♪ I'll sing to our Lord ♪ ♪ You are Lord of Lords ♪ ♪ You are King of Kings ♪ ♪ You are mighty God ♪ ♪ Lord of everything ♪ ♪ You're Emmanuel ♪ ♪ You're the great I Am ♪ ♪ You're my prince of peace ♪ ♪ Who is the Lamb ♪ ♪ You're my living God ♪ ♪ You're my saving grace ♪ ♪ You will reign forever ♪ ♪ You are ancient of days ♪ ♪ You are Alpha, Omega ♪ ♪ Beginning and end ♪ ♪ You're my Savior, Messiah ♪ ♪ Redeemer and friend ♪ ♪ You're my prince of peace ♪ ♪ I will live my life for You ♪ ♪ You're my prince of peace ♪ ♪ I will live my life for You ♪ ♪ Oh, 4,000 songs to sing ♪ ♪ My great Redeemer's praise ♪ ♪ The glories of my God and King ♪ ♪ The triumphs of His grace ♪ ♪ Oh, 4,000 songs to sing ♪ ♪ My great Redeemer's praise ♪ ♪ The glories of my God and King ♪ ♪ The triumphs of His grace ♪ ♪ My gracious Master and my God ♪ ♪ Assist me to proclaim ♪ ♪ To spread through all the earth around ♪ ♪ The honors of Thy name ♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh ♪ ♪ He's just the name ♪ ♪ He's just the name that charms our fears ♪ ♪ That fends our sorrows, tears ♪ ♪ 'Tis music in the sinner's ears ♪ ♪ 'Tis fun with hope and peace ♪ ♪ He breaks the power of canceled sin ♪ ♪ He sets the prisoner free ♪ ♪ His blood can make the fallacy ♪ ♪ His blood availed for me ♪ ♪ His peace ♪ ♪ His peace enlisting to His voice ♪ ♪ New life the dead receive ♪ ♪ The mortal broken heart's rejoice ♪ ♪ The humble poor believe ♪ ♪ We to God and praise and love ♪ ♪ The ever-ever-good ♪ ♪ Thy saints below and saints above ♪ ♪ Thy treasured earth and heaven ♪ ♪ For a thousand times to sing ♪ ♪ My great Redeemer's praise ♪ ♪ The glories of my God and King ♪ ♪ The triumphs of His grace ♪ - Amen, you may be seated.

All right, if you can turn your Bibles with me to Luke chapter eight. And I'll be reading from verse 22 onto verse 25. Luke chapter eight, verse 22 through 25. Now on those days, Jesus and His disciples got into a boat and He said to them, "Let us go over to the other side of the lake." So they launched out.

But as they were sailing along, He fell asleep and a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake and they began to be swamped and to be in danger. They came to Jesus, woke Him up, saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing." And He got up and rebuked the wind and the surging waves and they stopped and it became calm.

And He said to them, "Where is your faith?" They were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, "Who then is this that He commands even the winds and the water and they obey Him?" Let's pray. Father, we thank You for Your loving grace. We thank You for Your living Word.

We pray that Your Spirit would illuminate these words according to Your will and Your purpose. Help us, Lord God, to have open ears and softened hearts, that we may be molded, Lord God, as You are the potter and we are the clay. Protect this pulpit, Lord God, that only Your thoughts and Your words would go forth.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. So as you guys know, coming back from Korea and India and it's a pretty grueling trip, especially 'cause I had to go visit India and I was on the road for about 40 hours and I haven't fully adjusted yet. In fact, today I almost overslept.

You know, I woke up at seven and my thought was, "Hmm, I think I need to be somewhere at eight o'clock." I forgot what it was and I, "Oh shoot," and I jumped out of bed, you know, and then I got ready and I came. And so, you know, people keep asking me, "How long are you gonna be able to keep doing this?" But, you know, the benefit of short-term missions and any kind of missions, but the short-term missions is, you know, I get to spend a lot of time with our team members.

Obviously it benefits our church because we want our church to constantly be reminded of the Great Commission that God has given us. So we don't ever want to become a church where we're more concerned about, you know, certain things that are happening at church with the exclusion of the Great Commission, right?

That's the heartbeat of our church. So we want not just short-term members, but that when they come back, we always encourage them to share your thoughts and things that you learn so that that spirit would continue to be, you know, thriving and spreading inside the church. So we want everything that we do, whether it's Bible study or small group or membership, whatever it is that we're doing, it's in the context of the Great Commission that he called us to engage in.

But part of the side benefit is, I get to know our team members intimately, especially as our church grows. It's hard to spend that kind of time, and going out to short-term missions is a fast track to be able to get to know people, you know? And it's always surprising to me how people have a perception of who I am because you mainly only see me on the pulpit.

But I remember when I first got married, or not married, but when I first started dating Esther, one of the first things that she told me was how the persons that she got to know me as she was dating and the person that she thought I was in the pulpit was completely different.

And I said, "What's different?" And she said, "You're really goofy." That's what she said. And what surprised me wasn't that she thought I was goofy, but you didn't know that, you know what I mean? I thought that was common knowledge. But I think because a lot of times, especially as the church grows, you only see me up in the pulpit.

So it's an opportunity for me to get to know you, those people who go, and vice versa, right? I share all of this because I'm trying to set up the context in Jesus' ministry when Jesus says to his disciples, "Come, follow me, "and I will make you disciples of men." And so you see, for all three years, there was an end goal to what he was doing with his disciples.

He was trying to prepare them so that when he departs, that they will be able to carry the gospel. But of the main thing that he was doing, he was trying to reveal himself to them so that when they are ready, Jesus would ask the question, "Who do you say that I am?" And they needed to get this right.

They needed to know clearly his identity because the primary thing that they're going to be a witness for is about Jesus. So they can work hard and sacrifice and get organized, but if they don't know Christ, they'll miss the whole point. And so his ministry was about revelation of himself, mainly to his disciples and to others who are following him.

So the text that we're looking at, there's a series of things where Jesus is revealing himself. Luke records it in this order. In the text that we're looking at today in verse 22 to 25, it shows Jesus's power over nature. The next text, it shows us Jesus's power over the demons, verse 26 through 39.

And then verse 40 to 48, it reveals Jesus's power over disease. And then in verse 49 to 56, it shows us Jesus's power over death. And every one of these incidences ends with the recipients or the people who see this in fear and amazement of Jesus. So it's not by accident that these things are organized very deliberately because Luke wanted to convey that this is what Jesus was trying to teach his disciples, that they would recognize who he is, that they knew he was the Messiah, but really, who is he?

They wanted them to encounter Christ. So today, we're gonna be looking at Jesus's power over nature and the details of it and what it teaches us. First thing that when you look at the story of Jesus calming the storm, the first thing that we ask is the contrast between the disciples and Jesus.

We have the disciples who are freaking out. They think they're gonna die. And they're actually even upset with Jesus for sleeping. Don't you care? And then, Jesus is asleep, right, in the middle of a storm. So the contrast between the two response to the storm couldn't be further. We wanna look at this morning, what does that convey to us, and what Jesus said, and what was his goal, and what was he trying to reveal, right?

How was he trying to teach them? So the first thing, the disciples were afraid, which is an understatement. Luke chapter eight, 23 to 24 says, a fierce gale of wind descended on the lake. So I want you to understand that this was not just some average storm, right? These aren't new people on the boat who's not used to the waves moving up and down.

He said there was a fierce gust of wind descended on the lake, and it began to be swamped, meaning that the water was starting to come into the boat, but they were genuinely afraid, and it says, and they were in danger. They came to Jesus and woke him up, and saying, "Master, Master, we are perishing." Now, were they being melodramatic, right?

Was it just the wind came in, and the boat was just rocking, and they're just afraid, you know? And Jesus wakes up and says, "Hey, calm down, calm down. "It's not that bad," right? That's not the picture that is painted for us. He said they were genuinely concerned. In Mark 4:38, it says Jesus himself was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion, right?

And I'm not sure why that detail is in there, other than to tell us that he was very comfortable, right? He was on a cushion, and they woke him and said to him, "Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?" Now, I want you to understand the context of what is being described, right?

One, this was not just an average storm. This was genuinely life-threatening. And so, we can easily relate to what the disciples are doing, right? How many of you, if there was a storm, and you're being swamped, that you would sit there quietly, "Hey, relax, Jesus is on the boat, right?

"Relax." Their response is a normal response. It is a human response. We would expect every single human being on that boat to respond in this way. And you also have to understand that many of these guys are professional fishermen. And these are most likely generational fishermen that they probably inherited from their father, their grandfather, and so we don't know how many generations of fishing that they were doing.

And they were at the lake where they depended on their livelihood. So they were very familiar. And most likely, even the boat that they were on was probably Peter's boat. So they grew up, since they were children, they saw their parents, their grandparents doing this, and probably, they were very familiar with the different storms that would come in and out.

So for these professional fishermen to be freaked out, it means that this was a real threat. They were very, very concerned. I know sometimes that we can kind of get inoculated, especially if you live in Southern California. And I heard that July 5th, the day that I flew in, that there was a 7.5 earthquake in Mojave Desert.

How many of you guys were aware of that? Very few of you, right? And because of that, they said that there's been smaller tremors, maybe 1.5, two, maybe even up to three, 3.5 tremors. Any of you have felt that? Yeah. Most of us who live in Southern California, if it's not six or higher nearby, we don't move, right?

And I've lived near train tracks. So for me, the house needs to start to crack before I think like this is an earthquake, right? 'Cause I'm used to my house shaking every few hours, right? So you can imagine if Peter and the other fishermen, that this is their lifelong occupation, coming handed down generationally in the same sea, probably in the same boat, that if they're freaking out, that every single one of us would have been in the same boat, right?

So we can understand why they were freaking out. The mystery is not them. The mystery is Jesus. How was he sleeping? How was he sleeping on a nice, comfortable cushion, right? I don't know if you've ever been so tired that you just ended up passing out, right? I remember a few years ago, some of you guys were with me during that period.

I was trying to, we were on our way to India, and I found out that I read my visa dates backward, and basically I couldn't get into India. And so I was stuck in France with my summer clothes in the middle of winter, and I had to stay up for two nights straight.

So on the road there and two nights in France, and so I didn't get to sleep for almost three days. And I got my visa, I flew into India. Soon as I landed, our team was ready to go out to the village. And so I joined them, went to the village, and next thing I remember after being in the village and starting the medical camp, waking up with a table over me with bags and whatever clothes that they brought, like covering me, so basically hide me.

And I woke up thinking, what is this? And I asked the team, what happened? They said, "Man, you passed out and you were snoring." And so we had these dozens of people coming into the room, and you were a little bit of a distraction. So they put me in the corner of the room, and they covered me, and there's a table over me, and that's how I woke up, right?

And that's how tired I was that day, and I was able to adjust and start from the next day get going. But even in that situation, if my life was being threatened, I'm pretty sure I would've woken up, right? I would've been dead tired, but I'm pretty sure I would've woken up.

Just how tired was Jesus that professional generational fishermen were freaking out? We're going to perish, they weren't being overdramatic, that this was a real life-threatening situation, and it says Jesus was sleeping. Now, again, those of you who've been to India with us, we get a taste of what it must've been like for Jesus, right?

Because the first year we went in to the village to do the work, we got in there not knowing what to expect, and there would be 100 to 200, and sometimes even more than that, waiting for us at the village. And so as soon as the camp started, we would have a long line of people, and those of you guys who've been there with us, it's very difficult having crowd control.

And so even though we start with a line, 10 minutes into it, there are 20, 30 of them at the door, shoving their way, trying to go in, and after about two, three hours of this, it's exhausting. And I remember the very first trip, because we didn't know what we were doing, we had it set up, get up, get started, and then about the time that sun would go down, about four or five o'clock, we would pack up and leave.

And we did this for all five days, and we had one eye doctor. And so Karen was in there with the tent that they made, and she was under there sweating all day, and I remember, it's like, wow, this is gonna be hard, but we made it through the whole week.

But after the first year, I remember having the discussion, it's like, I don't think we can do this, right, not all five days. So it took us a couple years to adjust, and so we shortened it to four days, and we had to do something about the crowd control, and so we had to pass out numbers and had to get the pastors involved, and then we shortened the day.

Instead of having six hours, we would shorten it, and then about three o'clock, we'd try to end it, and even then, about four or five hours of constantly fighting the crowd, and by the time we leave, there's always a group of people that we can't see, and then we have to get in the van and leave, and so it's exhausting.

So we cut it to four days, and then the fifth day, we rest, and then we go back to the airport and we come out, and even then, it's pretty exhausting. Everybody is pretty knocked out. You know, we literally land, start the work, when the work is done, we get on the plane, we come out.

We come back out, right? But everyone who's been there, you can imagine what it was like for Christ. If just for a few days, we're that tired, trying to see some of these people. Imagine, Jesus is two years into his ministry, and it says that the crowd wasn't just 20, 30, 100 people.

It says by the time Jesus feeds the 5,000, most likely that number was closer to 20,000. Can you imagine 20,000 people, and they're not in a controlled environment? They don't have a door to watch. Everywhere Jesus is going, people are bombarding him, stretching out, trying to touch him and get to him, and so the disciples are constantly doing crowd control.

Most likely, in my opinion, the reason why Jesus kept on getting on the boat is because this is the only place where they couldn't get to him. Everywhere he went, remember, after he feeds the 5,000, he's so tired, he goes to the other side of the sea? And guess what, they followed him.

Oh, where did you go? You know, and the honest answer was away from you. And sometimes, not only from the crowd, he had to break away from even his own disciples 'cause sometimes they were troublemakers. So he would sneak away at night, you know, and we always look at that and say, Jesus spent time with his father because he knew how important prayer was, and all that is true, but I think Jesus was just getting away to take a break 'cause he was so tired.

Well, the scene that we see here, Jesus was that tired, humanly speaking. And so, he was resting, and the disciples come to him, and they said, "Do you not care? "Do you not care?" You know, if I was a leader on a trip, and I fell asleep, and there's some danger happening, and they're banging on the door, and I'm asleep, and they're banging, banging, and banging, and I'm guessing that by this time, the disciples exhausted all other option.

You know, Peter probably was telling them, he's like, "Yeah, I've been in this situation before. "You know, make sure you lean to the left, "lean to the right. "Make sure you focus your attention on this," 'cause they probably have done this hundreds of times, so my guess is they've exhausted every possibility, and none of this was working.

And so, they come to Jesus desperate because they really thought that they were going to die, and he's sleeping. How can you be sleeping in the middle of this? Now, I would think if I was in that situation, I would say, "Oh, oh, shoot. "I was so tired, sorry.

"Now, what do you want me to do?" If you notice that Jesus doesn't give them techniques, Jesus doesn't say, "You know what? "I know you tried all of this, but lean to your left, "and focus on this, and try this," and he doesn't figure out a way to get out of the storm.

He stops the storm itself. I don't think that the disciples were thinking that that's what Jesus was going to do. They were probably thinking that, even though they're the professional fishermen, and he's the Messiah, and we've seen him perform miracles, and maybe they were gonna walk on the water, I don't know.

Maybe he was going to learn how to direct the path of the boat, but he stands up, and he just rebukes the storm. And it's interesting, in verse 24, is that he got up and rebuked the wind, and surging waves, and they stopped, and it became calm. Don't you think it's interesting that he doesn't just say, "Hey, stop," that Luke and the other Gospels use the term rebuke.

Usually, when we think of rebuke, it's somebody who's in rebellion. Something's going wrong, like you would rebuke somebody, a friend or a child, who's not obeying, and so you rebuke them, because they're not behaving the way they're supposed to behave. And that's the term that is used. When Jesus looked at the storm, he doesn't just calm, he doesn't just wave his hand, and it just disappears.

He rebukes it like he's talking to a human being. "Stop!" And it says, immediately, it disappeared. Can you imagine the disciples watching this, and rightly so, they're asking, "What kind of a man is this, "that he has power and authority to tell the storm?" Now, we can get into a situation, we have financial issues, or we're hungry, or we can get in all kinds of situations, but natural disasters are something that you and I don't have much control over, if any.

Even with all the modern technology, we can maybe foresee it coming, maybe. Or maybe we can build a bunker, go deep underneath to avoid the storm. We can have rescues, or we can have boats filled with technology to come and get you. But the actual storm itself, we have no answer to.

If it happens, you're completely helpless. So Jesus doesn't control the environment, he tells the storm itself to stop! And it doesn't take five minutes, it doesn't take multiple tries. He says, as soon as he says, "Stop," the storm obeys, it obeys. It obeys! Even nature obeys God. Some people believe that Psalm 107, 24-30, was a Messianic passage, describing this very scene.

And if you read it, you can see why some people would think that. Psalm 107, 24-30. "They have seen the works of the Lord "and his wonders in the deep, "for he spoke and raised up a stormy wind, "which lifted up the waves of the sea. "They rose up to the heavens, "they went down to the depth, "their soul melted away in their misery, "they reeled and staggered like a drunken man, "and were at their wits' end.

"Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, "and he brought them out of their distresses, "he caused the storm to be still, "so that the waves of the sea were hushed. "Then they were glad, because they were quiet, "so he guided them to their desired haven." Now, you can see why the theologians would read this and say, "This must be reference to this event." Now, whether you believe it or not, there are so many references that relate to this, that Christ himself was revealing himself to the disciples, that he is completely sovereign, even over the storm.

Paul says in Colossians 1:16-17, "For by him all things were created, "both in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, "whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authority, "all things have been created through him and for him. "He is before all things, and in him "all things hold together." All things hold together.

You know, we have a tendency to come and declare his sovereignty, and that he is Lord, he's a creator. We know this passage. How many times have you read this passage? But do you actually believe this? Do you actually believe that no matter what is happening, no matter what kind of circumstance or storms may be coming into your life, that he is absolutely sovereign?

All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to him. Even the storm, he says, "Stop!" And it is, immediately it obeys, and it stops. How often do we declare his sovereignty, his lordship over our lives, but as soon as something that we planned doesn't go, soon as something that we thought was going to go a certain way and it doesn't go, we begin to say, we begin to get anxious.

We begin to plan, we begin to change plans, we begin to make decisions that oftentimes leads us away from God. These disciples needed to know, that they needed to know who was in charge, that Jesus was not just a superhuman, Jesus was not just a great messiah, that this is the son of God that is on the boat, that even the waves, even the storm obeys him.

They needed to know this. Now, at this particular moment, the only testing that they know was the storm, what greater storm is going to be coming. Jesus was preparing them for his way to the cross, and they needed to know who was in charge. We can understand him rebuking the wind, and it stops, but the question is, why does he rebuke the disciples?

How many of you would be in that situation? And you say, don't worry, don't worry, Jesus is here. But we're about to drown, the water is actually coming in, you know, we're literally minutes away from drowning. He's like, hey, hey, hey, kick back, don't worry, I have faith. Every single one of us would react the way that they're reacting.

We can relate to them, and yet Jesus rebukes them, so we need to dig a little further. Why were they rebuked? Well, Luke 8.25, it says, and he said to them, "Where is your faith?" Their reaction was a revelation of where they were in their faith. Again, in Matthew 8.26, he said to them, "Why are you afraid, you men of little faith?" So what he saw in there was that their fear revealed where they were in their faith.

In fact, Jesus says this repeatedly over and over again in Matthew 6.26, he said, "Why are you so concerned "about what you're gonna eat and where you're going to live? "It's because you have little faith." Matthew 14.31, when Peter says, "Is that you, Jesus, "in the middle of walking in the lake?" And when the storm came, Peter begins to sink, and Jesus reaches out and pulls him out of the water, and he says, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" Matthew 17.19-20, people come to him and say, "Your disciples couldn't cast out these demons." And Jesus says, "Couldn't cast out demons "because you had little faith." And then in Luke 7.9, when the centurion asked Jesus to heal his servant, and Jesus said, "Where is he, let me go." He says, "You don't need to come because I have servants, "and I tell them to go, and they go, "I tell them to come, and they come, "and I know you have servants.

"Just send one of your servants." And Jesus says he was amazed by their faith. Repeatedly over and over again, Jesus is trying to strengthen their faith. And in order to strengthen their faith, they need to know who Jesus is. Not just in theory, there's a huge difference between knowing Christ because you learned it from a book, because you heard a sermon, because you wrote and it said, "Oh, these are the attributes of Jesus.

"This is who he is, he's a sovereign God, "he is an all-knowing God, he's an omnipresent God." And you can know all of that, but you know the difference between having right theology and knowing Christ. They needed to know, they needed to know who Jesus was. Hebrews 11, six, it says, "Without faith, "it is impossible to please him.

"Without faith, it is impossible to please him, "for he who comes to God must believe that he is, "and that he is a rewarder of those who seek him." It is impossible to please him, meaning that legalism, just doing the work, just do it. But I sacrifice so much, I've given so much, I've done so much, I've served so much.

He says, "No, without faith, "it is impossible to please him." If it isn't coming from faith, if worship isn't coming from faith, faith meaning if it isn't coming from genuinely knowing Christ, no amount of yelling, no amount of screaming, no amount of discipline can please him. He who comes to God must first believe that he is, he is, and he is the rewarder of those who diligently seek him.

So we know that it says that they were rebuked because of their faith. But what is it about their faith that was lacking, that Jesus rebuked them? What human being would not be rebuked in this situation? I want to read a text in Psalm 23, one through five, a text that all of us are very familiar with.

If you grew up in a Christian home, you might have a sign, right, that Psalm 23 even hanging on your wall, right? Even non-Christians know this. It says, "The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." Let me stop right there. "The Lord is my shepherd." I know we say that, we sing that, but is it true?

Is it actually true? To say that the Lord is my shepherd means that he's my protector, he's my provider. He's my all, and that's why he says, "The Lord is my shepherd, and I shall have not, "I have no want," meaning I don't need anything else. Is that true?

I know we say it, I know we sing it, and it's a beautiful verse that gives us comfort, but is it true? Because everything else he says after that is contingent upon that being true. Because if that's an empty confession, then everything else that he says in Psalm 23 is not relevant to you and me.

He said, "All of this is true because he is my shepherd, "and I have no other wants." So many people declare this. And he says, "He is my shepherd, but I want that, "and I want this, and I want that, "and we live our life pursuing all these other things.

"I thought the Lord is my shepherd, "he's supposed to protect me and guide me." But the problem wasn't with God keeping his promise, but is he actually your shepherd? Is he the one you run to for comfort, for protection, for sustenance? Or do you come to him at church to worship him, but for everything else, you have other avenues?

Oftentimes, we don't actually realize what he means to us until we ourselves have exhausted every other possibility, and we become so desperate that we recognize what we've already had. "He is my shepherd, I shall not be in want. "He makes me lie down in green pastures." Meaning that he's the one who's going to provide.

He's the one who's going to sustain. He's the one who's going to comfort. Because he's my shepherd, he's the one who restores my soul. Where does the restoration of your soul come from? Netflix? Movies, vacation? If he's my shepherd, I don't need anything else because he leads me down green pastures.

He's the one who leads me quiet waters. He restores my soul. He's the one who guides me in the path of righteousness for his name's sake. And then he says, "Even though I walk through the valley "of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, "for you are with me.

"Your rod and your staff, they comfort me. "You prepare a table before me in the presence "of my enemies. "You have anointed my head with oil. "My cup overflows." Everything else that he says under verse one is contingent upon verse one. You know, I try to look up shadow of death.

Is there a place called shadow of death that the psalmist is talking about? And most people believe that this was a metaphor, right? What the psalmist is saying, that even though that this path may lead me to death, I will not fear any evil because he is with me.

Because he is with me. Even though I may be sitting with enemies whose sole goal is to harm me, he prepares a banquet before them, and I can eat in peace because he is with me. He has anointed me with oil. Why is this relevant? This is connected to the question that I asked.

Why were the disciples rebuked? And this is my observation. They needed to prepare for what Jesus ultimately came for. Everything that Jesus did was to prepare them for him to go to the cross. And there's gonna come a time where they will have to give their life. And they have to trust him, that even if you die, you will live.

He wasn't simply, I don't think, rebuking them for freaking out. It's because they were so afraid of death. And you have to remember that even after this, they didn't fully understand. As Jesus was going, and he's telling them about his death, remember, they were constantly concerned about, well, how are we going to live?

Who's going to be to the left or to the right? Who's going to receive the benefit of your glory when that happens? And so even as Jesus was telling them, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die, they didn't hear any of it. And even after he is buried, they don't go to even check because they heard him, but they didn't hear him because it didn't fit into their paradigm.

It says in Luke 8.25 that after Jesus comes a storm, they were fearful and amazed, saying to one another, who then is this that he commands even the winds and the water and they obey him? Who is this? That their fear of the storm was replaced by fear of the Lord.

And that was the whole point. That was the whole point. Until the fear of the Lord grips us, we will live the rest of our lives in fear of everything else. Until the fear of the Lord grips us, fear of not making it, fear of not getting into school, fear of not raising our children a certain way, fear of not having money for retirement, fear of not being able to have enough money to retire, some other fear, fear of being rejected by our peers.

If the fear of the Lord does not grip us, every other fear is going to cause us to make decisions and do things to lead us away from him. That's exactly what he says. In Hebrews 2.14-15, therefore since the children share in the flesh and blood, he himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death he might render powerless him who had power of death, that is the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.

Those of you who know the context of Hebrews, Hebrews is possibly written to second and possibly even third generation Christians. They began their walk and they rejoiced when they were suffering. They visited their fellow prisoners and they were joyfully getting their things confiscated. They endured through suffering. But by the time this is being written, capital punishments was already being carried out.

Some of the leaders have already been beheaded. And it looks like what Jesus said was actually coming true, not only to Jesus and the disciples, but even some of the church members. And as a result, some of them were dying. The book of Hebrews was written to people who were beginning to fall away and compromise because they were afraid to die.

And the whole book of Hebrews was written is the supremacy of Christ over all things. That even if you die, you will live. In John 11, 25 to 27, Jesus says at the resurrection or the resuscitation of Lazarus, he says, Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life.

He who believes in me will live even if he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? Do you believe this? See, up to that point, the disciples couldn't understand. What does it mean to die? They were so focused on living that as Jesus was going to the cross, they couldn't understand.

We followed you, we sacrificed, we understand who you are, but why would you die? And this fear of death is what caused them to crumble. It caused them to crumble, deny Christ to his face three times. And it wasn't until Jesus was resurrected from the dead and he ascended where the lights began to go off.

That's what he means. That even if we die in Christ, we will live. So much of the heartache in the Christian community comes because we're trying so hard to live. We're trying so hard to live like the rest of the world. It is our natural instinct 'cause we want to live.

But it's that instinct to want to live is what's killing us. And that's why Jesus says, "He who finds his life will lose it." He who loses his life for my sake will find it. The beginning of our Christian life is repentance. Repentance is recognizing that all that I had before Christ was wrong.

It wasn't about a particular event. It wasn't just a simple act. Who I was and what I followed, what I valued was all in the context of sin. So repentance is turning away from my old life to die, to die to my old self. So this new life happens when we die.

Sanctification is a growing understanding of this and dying more. That's what sanctification is. It's not becoming more, but it's becoming less. Glorification is the final destination of our salvation to when we ultimately fully die. So this life that Jesus promised us that he came to give life and give this life abundantly happens in the context of picking up our cross and denying ourselves and being hidden in Christ.

The disciples, I believe, were rebuked because they did not understand. They didn't understand what Jesus came to do. They did not understand, like many of us, that the path to better life, the path to better eternity is to be less, not more, is to die in Christ. It is the mistake that we make, like the disciples, that if I follow Christ, I'll live longer.

If I follow Christ, that maybe he'll answer my prayer, my marriage will be fixed, my children will be fixed, and when that happens, we lose confidence in God. But we miss the whole point from the get-go. See, when the disciples encountered Christ and his power and authority, their paradigm shifted.

Completely shifted. Who is this? Who is this that even the winds and the water obey him? Who is this that we worship, that even if we sacrifice, even if we lose, even if our greatest fear on earth happens, what we have in Christ can never be taken away, that our security in Christ, him as our Abba Father, can never be crushed.

He who finds his life, who lives his life, constantly trying to find his life, will lose it. But he who recognizes, who is this? Who is this that even if we die, we will live? Who is this? The one who comes to recognize this, believes him, and follows him, will truly live.

Man, it's so simple and yet so profound. It's so simple. You must die. You must first embrace death before you can live. You must embrace nothingness. That's why for somebody who has met Christ, when you hear you don't matter, it's not offensive. It's very freeing. You don't matter. It's like what?

All your life, he's like, you're so special, you're so special. Then you come to church, you don't matter. It's 'cause it's about God. But those who know who he is, those who have asked the question, what kind of a man is this that even if we die, we will live, the path to freedom is death.

Die. Die first. He who comes to me must first pick up his cross and deny himself. That you and I may come to understand when he says, I have come to give life and give this life abundantly, that the path to that life is through the cross. I pray that our church, because you are 24/7 bombarded with temptations of this world.

24/7. And we can easily be deceived that evidence of God's blessing is your nice house, that evidence of God's blessing is many children. Evidence of God's blessing is a secure future, a secure job. That's deception. Evidence of God's blessing is a clear sight of Christ. Evidence of God's blessing is whatever leads you to see a clear vision of the glory of Christ.

Because life is found in him and him alone. Let's pray. (footsteps) Father, we bless you and thank you for your goodness in our lives. Open our eyes, Father God, that we may see a clearer and clearer vision of who you are. That though we see dimly lit and as a child, I pray, Father God, that we would have tasted enough that we would long for the coming of Christ and that would be our greatest passion in life.

That we may one day see you face to face. And that we would share the gospel and that more and more people may have their eyes open and come as well. For that end, call us, rebuke us, challenge us and encourage us that we may be your ambassadors wherever you send us.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Let's all stand up for the closing praise. (soft music) (soft music continues) ♪ I will trust my Savior Jesus ♪ ♪ When my darkest doubts before ♪ ♪ Trust Him when to simply trust Him ♪ ♪ Seems the hardest thing of all ♪ ♪ I will trust my Savior Jesus ♪ ♪ Trust Him when my strength is small ♪ ♪ For I know the shield of Jesus ♪ ♪ Is the safest place of all ♪ ♪ Jesus, only Jesus ♪ ♪ Help me trust You more and more ♪ ♪ Jesus, only Jesus ♪ ♪ May my heart be ever Yours ♪ ♪ I will trust my Savior Jesus ♪ ♪ He has set His way as best ♪ ♪ And I know the path He's chosen ♪ ♪ Leads to everlasting rest ♪ ♪ Jesus, only Jesus ♪ ♪ Help me trust You more and more ♪ ♪ Jesus, only Jesus ♪ ♪ May my heart be ever Yours ♪ ♪ Jesus, only Jesus ♪ ♪ Help me trust You more and more ♪ ♪ Jesus, only Jesus ♪ ♪ May my heart be ever Yours ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ Oh, on that cross ♪ ♪ How it was seen ♪ ♪ I can go now ever trusting ♪ ♪ In the One who died for me ♪ ♪ What could I bring ♪ ♪ For Your gift is complete ♪ ♪ So I trust You, simply trust You ♪ ♪ Lord, with every part of me ♪ ♪ Oh, on that cross ♪ ♪ How it was seen ♪ ♪ I can go now ever trusting ♪ ♪ In the One who died for me ♪ ♪ What could I bring ♪ ♪ For Your gift is complete ♪ ♪ So I trust You, simply trust You ♪ ♪ Lord, with every part of me ♪ ♪ Jesus, only Jesus ♪ ♪ Help me trust You more and more ♪ ♪ Jesus, only Jesus ♪ ♪ May my heart be ever Yours ♪ ♪ Jesus, only Jesus ♪ ♪ Help me trust You more and more ♪ ♪ Jesus, only Jesus ♪ ♪ May my heart be ever Yours ♪ - Let's pray.

Now the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit, and eternal love of God the Father, rest, restore, strengthen, rebuke, and encourage that all Your children may bear fruit, Lord God, in season. Help us, Lord God, to be the light wherever You send us.

Help us, Lord God, to be the aroma of Christ in this dark, dark world. Help us, Lord God, no matter what the circumstances, no matter what may be happening around us, that we would be able to confess that You are our shepherd, and there is no want. You are the one who leads us to green pastures.

You are the one who leads us in the quiet waters, the living water, that though we walk in the shadow of the valley of death, that we would not fear evil, for You are with us. Send us, Lord God, that those words would be etched in our heart that we may bear fruit accordingly.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. ♪ God sent His Son ♪ ♪ And called Him Jesus ♪ ♪ He came to love ♪ ♪ He left no man ♪ ♪ He didn't die ♪ ♪ To buy my body ♪ ♪ An empty grave is there to fill ♪ ♪ My Savior lay ♪ ♪ Because He lay ♪ ♪ I can face tomorrow ♪ ♪ Because He lay ♪ ♪ All fear is gone ♪ ♪ 'Cause I know ♪ ♪ He holds the future ♪ ♪ And life is worth the living ♪ ♪ Just because He lives ♪ ♪ From above ♪ ♪ Heaven's peace and love ♪