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SERIES: MAKING AN IMPACT ON OUR COMMUNITY SERMON: Don’t Fear the Deep 8-13-17 By Pastor Keshia Heath This morning I’m going to be continuing our series Making and Impact on our City. We need to know how we can impact our city. Our city is in need of Jesus, can I get an amen, and just sitting in here on Sundays and Wednesdays isn’t going to do that, we have to put into action what we are learning and go. Matthew 14:22-32 22
Immediately after this, Jesus insisted that his disciples get back into the boat and cross to the other side of the lake, while he sent the people home. 23 After sending them home, he went up into the hills by himself to pray. Night fell while he was there alone. 24
Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves. 25 About three o’clock in the morning[a] Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, “It’s a ghost!” 27
But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here![b]”
28
Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.”
29
“Yes, come,” Jesus said.
So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the strong[c] wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted. 31
Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?” 32
When they climbed back into the boat, the wind stopped. 33 Then the disciples worshiped him. “You really are the Son of God!” they exclaimed. Now I know most of us have heard this story A LOT of times, how many have heard this story more than once in their life? Yea that’s what I though most of us have. However, I felt like God wants us to look at this story in the way of impacting our city. So how does this work? How many of you know the Great Commission? These are the words Jesus spoke to the believers before He ascended into the Heavens. Matthew 28:19-20, “19 Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,[a] baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. 20 Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
We see here that Jesus expects us to go and make disciples. So why don’t we? Our biggest problem is the GO. Why do we not GO because of Fear, fear of what may happen. Something that Pastor Jabin Chavez said while we were at Youth America was “Obedience is our responsibility, the results are God’s responsibility.” In other words all we need to do is GO, step out of the boat. So let’s go back to the story we read at the start. 24 Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for a strong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves. 25 About three o’clock in the morning[a] Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, “It’s a ghost!” 27
But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am here![b]”
Here are the disciples in a boat caught in the midst of a storm, now I don’t know if anyone has ever been in a boat when it’s storming but let me tell you it isn’t fun! Cruise Illustration I say all that because I can’t even imagine how horrible it must have been to be in such a small boat in the middle of a storm. But that is where they found themselves. As they were there we see in vs 25 that about 3 o’clock Jesus came out to them walking, and they thought he was ghost, which I mean can you blame them? If you were out in the ocean and a man started walking towards you on the water?? I’d probably pass out honestly. So here they are in the boat and now that they know it is Jesus, peter says Lord if that’s you tell me to come. 28 Then Peter called to him, “Lord, if it’s really you, tell me to come to you, walking on the water.” 29 “Yes, come,” Jesus said Let’s stop here, some of you are waiting on Jesus to tell you to come, you are waiting for him to open the heavens and say go impact the community, go reach out to others, but let me say this He already has. We just read it in Matthew 28, that He tells us to go. So stop waiting, well I’m not going to go minister to that person because Jesus hasn’t told me to, I’m not going to go pray for that lady with a broken foot because Jesus hasn’t told me to. Let me ask you parents this, when you tell your kids to do something the first time, you expect them to do it right? Now I know that’s in a perfect world for some of you, but Jesus has already instructed us to do these things, yet some of us won’t unless the heavens open and He speaks it into our ear as doves are flying around, now don’t get me wrong I believe there are moments in life where we need
confirmation from Heaven before we move forward, but in things like impacting our community, praying for someone’s, sharing the love of Jesus to someone, that should just be a part of what you do. So GO-DO-BE. Go make disciples, Do what God is asking you to do , and Be the light in the darkness. Now Jesus, says come. So Peter steps out. I want to focus on this today. This is where I think the church is right now. In the boat, or right on the edge of the boat. We fear the deep. We are comfortable in the boat, scared that if we step out we will sink, we will fail, it won’t work. What is your boat named today? What is it that is stopping you from moving forward, bringing the kingdom to this community. What fear is it that is keeping you from stepping out? Fear of failure? Proverbs 24:16, “for though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again, but the wicked stumble when calamity strikes.” Fear of rejection? 1 Peter 2:4 ESV As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, Is it fear of loneliness? Hebrews 13:5 I will never leave you or forsake you. Fear of the future? Jeremiah 29:11 Fear of the outcome? 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." Fear of Humiliation? 2 Corinthians 12:9 ESV But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness….” Why aren’t we stepping out? We are letting the fear of man keep us in the boat. We need to JUST DO IT! If we want to impact this community we have got to step out of the boat-step out of our comfortable place. There were other disciples in the boat, but their names aren’t mentioned because they didn’t step out. Here’s what I love in this story so many of us focus on the part where Peter steps out, or we focus on the part where he gets distracted by the waves but let’s read, vs 29-31 So Peter went over the side of the boat and walked on the water toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the strong[c] wind and the waves, he was terrified and began to sink. “Save me, Lord!” he shouted. 31
Jesus immediately reached out and grabbed him. “You have so little faith,” Jesus said. “Why did you doubt me?”
We know that the Bible tells us that the perfect love of God is what casts out fear-love is the opposite of fear, and what a beautiful picture of that is painted for us here in this passage. You see God tells us to go, he tells us to make disciples, to pray for one another, lift each other up. To a lot of us this community is the deep, it’s the water on the outside of the boat, which can definitely be intimidating, because we live in a time where anybody will argue with anyone and are very bold in all that they believe and hold on to it, so I know those waves can seem extremely high, but good news. God is with you. And if you happen to sink, he is right there to pick you up again. So don’t fear the deep. His love rescues us, His love helps us up, his love keeps us going, His love takes care of the fear. We no longer have to fear the deep, its time to make an impact in our city, church-if not us then who.
