On that day when evening had come, he said to them, let us go across to the other side.
And leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat, just as he was.
And other boats were with him.
And a great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking into the boat, so that the boat was already filling.
But he was in the stern, asleep on the cushion.
And they awoke him and said to him, teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?
And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, peace, be still.
And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
He said to them, why are you so afraid?
Have you still no faith?
And they were filled with great fear and said to one another, who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?
Let's pray together.
Father God, we do thank you this morning for your holy word.
And we thank you for Christ, who is your very character made manifest amongst us.
And we thank you for the gospel of Mark, that we have an opportunity to behold his life, to learn from it, to glean, to wonder at who he was.
We thank you for his accomplished work.
We thank you for who he is to us this day.
And I pray that by the gift of the Spirit, to those of us who have placed our faith in him, that we might learn, we might understand, we might apply your word today in wisdom in this world.
For the great end cause of magnifying your name.
And we pray this in Christ's name.
Amen.
Well, we would do well this morning as we would any time we study the gospel of Mark together to remember why it is Mark wrote this gospel account.
And it's very similar to the other gospel accounts.
It shouldn't be a strange concept to you.
But remember Mark 1, verse 1, it reads,
The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.
And he takes a great deal of pains in presenting to us the fact that Jesus Christ was, in fact, the Son of God.
And therefore, God himself made flesh to dwell amongst us.
And the natural then response to understanding that is that we might follow him.
That we will be disciples of Christ.
And disciples of Christ make disciples.
So you've heard me saying over and over again that the great call of Mark to our lives is to recognize Jesus as the Christ.
And to become disciple-making disciples of Jesus the Christ.
We've witnessed a series of Jesus' miracles up to this point.
In fact, Mark fires through them pretty quickly for us.
Kind of laying out for us the authority that Jesus had.
His power over creation we've seen a number of times already in his healings.
That he has healed people of physical illness means that he had to do some regenerative work in them.
That there was some malady of a particular organ or of some limbs and he had to do a regenerative work.
Not apply some medicine but actually make something new.
So we've already seen this power over creation displayed for us in the gospel.
But here we see it in a particularly mighty way.
We see a display of Jesus as the creator and sustainer of creation.
Now, if you study much the attributes of God, you will come to know and understand that there are attributes of God that are both communicable.
Meaning things that we can do.
God is love.
Therefore, we can love.
And there are also some incommunicable attributes of God.
Things that God is that we will never be.
We're called to be holy because God is holy.
Not like God is holy.
We'll never be like God in that way.
And another way that we'll never be like God is in his creativity.
And I'm not suggesting that we cease using that term for the things that we do that are creative.
I have a very creative wife and I will continue to call her creative and appreciate her creativity.
But none of us are creative the way that God is creative.
The way that Jesus Christ is creative.
And that is that God creates from nothing.
The fancy Latin term for that is ex nihilo if you care about such things.
We will never be this way.
And in fact, I think one of the reasons that we're so wired to appreciate creativity
is that it gives some semblance, some reflection of who God is.
That God creates beauty.
Whether you like art or not, if that's where your mind is gone,
you may appreciate music.
You may appreciate buildings that are beautiful to behold.
All of these things are some reflection of God's creative person.
So we see that on display here in the person of Jesus Christ.
And this shouldn't be, for those of us who are students of the Bible, any real surprise.
We should already know this to be true.
I've got a number of texts I'd like for you to try to turn with me quickly for the sake of time.
John 1, verses 1-3.
Anybody catch that I just spilled water all over myself?
I'm just not being quite as full.
In the beginning was the Word, being Christ.
This is who John is writing of.
And the Word was with God, and the Word was God.
He was in the beginning with God.
And all things were made through Him,
and without Him was not anything made that was made.
Jesus Christ.
All things were made through Him,
and nothing was made apart from Him.
Ready?
Hebrews 1, verses 1-3.
Hebrews 1, verse 1.
Long ago, at many times and in many ways,
God spoke to our fathers by the prophets,
but in these last days He has spoken to us by His Son,
whom He appointed the heir of all things,
through whom He also created the world.
He is the radiance of the glory of God,
and the exact imprint of His nature,
the facsimile of God.
And He upholds the universe by the word of His power,
certainly the creator and sustainer.
of this world.
Colossians 1.
Don't turn in here.
Just stick with me.
Colossians 1, verses 16-17.
For by Him all things were created,
in heaven and on earth,
visible and invisible,
whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities,
all things were created through Him and for Him.
And He is before all things,
and in Him all things hold together.
And the last one, 1 Corinthians 8, verse 6.
For us there is one God, the Father,
from whom are all things,
and from whom we exist,
and one Lord, Jesus Christ,
through whom are all things,
and through whom we exist.
And this is only a sampling of texts
in the New Testament
that make this very apparent to us,
that Jesus Christ,
being the Son of God,
is Himself God,
and is therefore the creator
and the sustainer of the universe.
And this is what we see displayed for us
as He has power over this storm.
There's much conversation as of late
about the question of origin.
Recently there was a debate
between Bill Nye, the science guy,
and Ken Ham,
which had some mixed review
at the quality of the debate itself.
But that sparked a lot of conversation.
There's a lot of people talking about
the issue of origin right now
and applying science to the age of the earth.
And all of those things are important and valuable.
And I appreciate young earth apologists
that are making a case
for the inerrancy of Scripture in that way.
I love it.
I appreciate that.
But more importantly than all of that,
if you want to ask where our origin is from,
how did this world come into existence?
It came into existence by Jesus.
That is it.
That is the answer to this great question.
I have encouraged a number of you,
particularly the families,
to use with your children
a resource called New City Catechism.
I would actually encourage everyone in here
to use it as a resource.
A question and an answer.
A doctrinal layout.
A road map, so to speak,
for us to understand the truths of God
in a very systematic way.
And the second question of that,
which we're working on with Cade,
is what is God?
What is God?
And the answer,
and Cade can say this with confidence,
I don't think he fully understands it,
but is that God is the creator
and sustainer of everyone and everything.
And this is such an important truth
for us to understand.
It's so key that we wrap our minds
around who Jesus is.
This is a magnificent thing about our Lord.
In fact, the use of the word Lord
in the Old Testament
was the word Yahweh.
In Hebrew, spelled Y-H-W-Y
in our English equivalent of that.
Which is the name that God gave Himself
in speaking to Moses in the burning bush,
which was to say,
I am.
That's how we read it in English.
I am.
In that everything emanates from Him.
You've heard me say before
that everything plugs into God.
God plugs into nothing.
He is self-sufficient.
He is self-sustaining.
All the power in this universe
comes from His being.
And in this miracle,
Jesus expresses Himself uniquely
as the Great I Am.
This is huge.
The miracles before this
have been a big deal.
He's shown that He has authority over sin.
He's shown that He has authority over Satan.
He's shown that He has authority over flesh
and that failing.
But here He is saying,
I am the Great I Am.
Watch what I'm about to do.
Now I'll tell you that I've stolen great part
the outline for this sermon
from John MacArthur.
I just think it's proper to give him
proper due in this
and not be a plagiarizer.
College students know what that means.
But we're going to look at this story
in four different parts.
The calm before the storm.
The calm during the storm.
The calm after the storm.
And the storm after the calm.
So that's how we're going to progress
through this together.
So let's look first
at the calm during the storm.
Verse 37.
We're just going to read that again
so it's fresh in our minds.
And a great windstorm arose.
Oh, excuse me.
I just jumped.
On that day when evening had come,
He said to them,
Let us go across to the other side.
And leaving the crowd,
they took Him with them in the boat
just as He was.
And other boats were with them.
Now, it's widely understood.
There's some debate.
We can't say with a great deal of finality on this.
But that this event proceeds,
follows up a day,
excuse me,
follows a day of teaching.
So beginning in chapter 4,
we see Him casting out on the side
teaching from a boat.
He's on the side of the Sea of Galilee.
And He's now gotten out
because the crowd is pressing it around Him
in a boat.
And He uses the water then
as a natural projection.
He didn't have a handy mic
that thumps His voice
when He looks the wrong direction.
But spoke out across the water
so that all this crowd
might hear the message
that He was teaching.
And we saw very quickly
kind of backing up that
a series of four sayings,
some of them parables,
some not really fitting into that mold.
And I believe that Mark
intends for us to see this
as a day of teaching.
There's some evidence to that.
There's just a little bit of evidence
contrary to that,
like in verse 10.
And when He was alone,
those around Him with the twelve
asked Him about the parables.
So at some point,
He was not with the crowd
and was able to give some explanation
to the disciples.
Ultimately, it doesn't really matter.
And praise God for that.
But certainly,
He has concluded some teaching.
And it's likely,
I would err,
if I'm going to err on a side,
I would err to the side,
of this being a full day of teaching.
Because it says,
in verse 36,
that they took Him with them
in the boat.
And the article is there
in the original language.
So, what boat are they referring to?
And I would assume
that it was the boat
that He was teaching from
in the beginning of chapter 4.
So it's been this
long day of teaching.
And I can say to you
that preaching a 45-minute sermon
is exhausting.
And some of you in your lives
will understand
what that looks like
and what that means
and what it feels like
to have this many eyes
staring at you
and have to kind of
pour yourself out
and to have both
something happening
coming out of your mouth
and dialogue running
in the back of your head.
Like, why is He looking
at me like that?
I'm not really sure
what I just said wrong.
Or as I tend to invent words
at times,
I'm thinking,
is that a word?
I don't think that's a word.
Should I go back
and correct myself?
No, I won't worry about it.
And moving forward like that.
And it's quite mentally exhausting.
The preparation for such
is exhausting.
And so we see Jesus here
wanting to get away.
Getting in a boat
in order to get away.
Jesus was God in flesh,
but He was still a man.
And I'm always encouraged
to see the times
that He rested,
the times that He withdrew,
because I feel that so readily
in my life as well.
So there's a calm
before the storm.
There's a calm during the storm,
beginning in verse 37.
And a great windstorm arose,
and the waves were breaking
into the boat,
so that the boat
was already filling.
But He was in the stern,
asleep on the cushion,
and they woke Him
and said to Him,
Teacher,
do you not care
that we are perishing?
And He awoke
and rebuked the wind
and said to the sea,
Peace.
Be still.
Now some of the incredibly
fascinating things
I learned this week
were about the Sea of Galilee.
As a person who likes adventure,
I really want to go
to the Sea of Galilee now.
It's a fascinating place
in the world.
I would say primarily
for its historical significance.
Many very important things happen.
The other lake miracle,
Jesus walked on these waters,
the Sea of Galilee.
The fact that He stilled a storm
on these waters
would be a reason
to go see this place.
But it's unique
in many different ways.
It's different from
all other bodies of water
in the world.
To give you some approximation
of the size of it,
it's 13 miles long
and 8 miles wide,
64 square miles.
And just to kind of
help you understand that,
Lake Lanier is 59 square miles.
If you ever look at pictures
of the Sea of Galilee,
it's much more open.
It doesn't quite have the fingers
that Lake Lanier has.
But it's roughly the same size.
At its greatest depth,
it's about 150 feet deep.
Just like Lake Lanier,
at the dam,
it's about 150 feet deep.
So it kind of helps,
I think,
you wrap your mind around
this is not a massive
body of water.
It's unique in that
it's 682 feet below sea level.
Not the lowest lake in the world.
The Dead Sea is the lowest,
but the Dead Sea
is a saltwater lake.
This is the lowest
freshwater lake in the world.
682 feet below sea level.
Fed primarily by the Jordan River,
although it does have
some natural springs
that feed it as well.
What's really,
really unique about
this particular lake
is the way that the mountains
border it
and the way the winds blow
across this lake.
Primarily in the wintertime.
There are two seasons.
The summer,
there's some fairly regular storms
that come in
that can be calculated.
In the wintertime,
the winds come from
a different direction
and they are really hard
to calculate.
Come up at any moment.
And this is the experience
that they find themselves in.
I can't say with certainty
that this was in the wintertime,
but they certainly
didn't set out across the lake
to brave a storm
of this nature,
so it's safe to assume
that it came up on them
very suddenly.
Now get this.
Imagine Lake Lanier.
I think most of us
have been out on the lake
and the lake on a really windy day
gets pretty choppy.
Pretty choppy on the lake
is like one foot waves.
Those waves are caused
by the wind.
Well, on the Sea of Galilee,
these waves can be up to
ten feet high
caused by the wind.
Isn't that fascinating?
Just a small body of water.
Waves ten feet high.
And these boats
were low-sided boats.
They were used to fish out of.
They hauled nets aboard them
and they hauled nets manually,
not with some kind of a crane
or something like that.
So they were low-sided boats
and these waves
would have crashed
across the deck.
And we see here
that it was happening,
such a storm was happening
that the boat was filling
with water
and a boat that's full of water
sinks,
just in case you didn't know that.
Right?
Now,
up to seven of the disciples,
possibly up to seven
were confident,
five,
but up to seven of the disciples
were fishermen.
They would have been very familiar
with this circumstance.
Very familiar with it.
They probably would have
encountered it before.
But here we see this calm
during the storm
as they're terribly concerned
having experienced this,
being in the midst of it,
having the boat
filling with water
and in the back of the boat,
Jesus is sleeping.
Jesus is sleeping
in the back of the boat.
That's the stern,
the back of the boat.
And He's asleep on the cushion,
which is probably something
that was always in a boat like this
and that the fishermen
would sit on
in order to steer the boat.
He just decided to doze off
and take a nap
after his long day of teaching.
Right?
This is similar
to the story of Jonah.
Remember the story of Jonah?
God calls him
to go and preach to Nineveh,
to call them to repent
and turn to God.
And he flees instead
in the opposite direction
across the Mediterranean
towards a town called Tarshish.
He doesn't quite get there,
but a great storm comes up
and he is also asleep in a boat.
And he admits
that it's probably his fault
that this is happening.
This is in Jonah 1
and is thrown overboard.
Although I think
that this comparison
is meant to express
contrast
rather than similarity.
Right?
It's meant to express
contrast
rather than similarity.
Jonah
is the victim
rather than the victor
in his story.
Jonah was tired
from running away
from God.
Fell into such a sleep
that he could sleep
through a storm
like this.
And I would
propose to you
that Jesus was tired
because he was running
after God.
Jesus could rest
because he knew
the promises of Romans 8.28.
Even though Paul
had yet to write it,
for those who love God,
all things work together
for good.
For those who are called
according to his purpose,
he could rest
confident
in the hands
of the king.
Further,
as Jonah's running away
from the call of God
to preach good news
to the people of Nineveh,
Jesus is running
towards
a divine appointment.
In John 5.19,
Jesus says,
Truly, truly,
I say to you,
the Son can do nothing
of his own accord,
but only what he sees
the Father doing.
For whatever the Father does,
that the Son does likewise.
He had a great confidence
in his ministry.
He didn't have to look
to some methodology.
He didn't have to
come up with some
sort of strategy.
His single-mindedness
is that he would listen
to what the Father
was doing
and do
what he said.
So he gets into a boat
and he sets out
across a lake
headed from the west
side of the lake
to the east
side of the lake.
We don't know.
Did Jesus know
the encounter
he was about to experience?
Maybe.
Probably not.
I would guess
in his humanity
that he did not know
the future
of his encounter
on the other side
of the lake,
but he knew
that he was meant
to go across the lake
and he could rest
in that.
Now we see where he goes
at the beginning
of chapter 5.
We'll talk about this
at length
in some coming weeks.
Chapter 5,
verse 1,
he ends up in the
land of the Gerasenes.
There are two cities there,
Gerasa and Gadara,
I'm assuming,
is the way you pronounce
these things.
And this is where
he casts out
a demon,
which is demons,
called legion.
Remember the story
of the crazy man
who lived amongst
the tombs
and he casts the demons
out and he puts them
into a herd of pigs?
Guess what Jews
didn't eat?
Pigs.
These are Gentile towns
that he's gone to.
Jesus' primary ministry
was amongst Jewish people,
but here we see him
crossing to the other
side of the lake
to proclaim
the good news
of the coming kingdom,
which was his
consistent message
to Gentile peoples.
How do we know this?
Chapter 5,
verse 18,
the man that he's
cast this legion
out of
wants to go with him.
They're going to get
back in the boat
and go back across
the Sea of Galilee
and he wants to go with him
and instead
he tells him
to stay.
He tells him to stay
and go share
the good news.
Verse 19 and 20,
into the Decapolis,
which is a group
of ten cities
which were on the
eastern front
of the Roman Empire
in modern day Jordan,
they were Gentile cities
in this largely Jewish region
and this is where
this man that legion
was cast out of
goes and shares
the good news
of the coming kingdom.
I was so enlivened
by this
as I read this
because our God
is a global God.
He makes
global promises
all throughout
the Old Testament.
We know that we are meant
to go to the ends
of the earth
and here we see
Jesus as part of that work
as ministering primarily
to Jewish people
of Jewish descent
but also expanding
that reality
out and beyond
to Gentiles as well.
We read in Isaiah 60
verses 1-3
Arise, shine
for your light has come
and the glory of the Lord
has risen upon you
for behold
darkness shall cover the earth
and thick darkness
the peoples
but the Lord
will arise upon you
and His glory
will be seen upon you
and nations shall come
to your light
and kings
to the brightness
of your shining.
And Jesus could
rest
in this.
So that's the calm
during the storm.
And then the calm
after the storm.
He awakes
and He rebukes
the wind
and rebukes it
peace
be still
and the wind
ceased
and there was
a great calm.
He said to them
why are you so afraid?
Have you still
no faith?
Now remember
that these are the men
that Jesus spoke to
in chapter 4
verse 11
He says
to these men
to you has been given
the secret
of the kingdom of God.
We know that these men
except for one
all became
followers of Christ
in their finality.
They pursued Him
to death.
But yet
they still lacked faith
at this point.
What a fascinating
time
in history.
They still
lacked
the faith
to believe
He is
who He says
He is.
He has made this point
to them
previously
at the end of chapter 3.
They are those
that are sitting
with Him
and He says
that those who are
my family
those who are
my mothers
and my brothers
and my sisters
are those who do
the will
of my Father.
He has already
made this claim
that He is the Son of God
again and again
and again
and yet they still
find their faith
so weak.
Faith is confidence
in the person
and promises
of God
which find their
fulfillment in Christ.
Faith is confidence
in the person
and promises
of God
which find their
fulfillment in Christ.
2 Corinthians 1.20
says for all the promises
of God
find their yes
in Him
being Jesus.
So we ask this question
why are you so afraid?
If you believe I am
who I say I am
why are you afraid?
If I am God incarnate
coming to dwell amongst you
and I'm asleep on the boat
why are you afraid
of a little storm?
Ten foot waves
right?
Why are you afraid
of a little storm?
Have you still
no faith?
And this is a piercing
question
that Jesus asked
and we would do well
to ask ourselves
the same question.
Do we have faith
that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God?
That's the case
that's been building here
that Mark is driving at.
And most of us
I believe
with a great deal
of confidence
in the room
can say yes
of course I do.
Of course I believe
that Jesus is the Son of God
and I see fruit
in your lives
that bear evidence
of this reality.
But I don't know that
to be true
of everyone in here.
And we would be remiss
at this point
if we didn't ask
that question.
Do you believe
that Jesus
is the Christ?
It's not merely enough
just to say it.
It's not enough
just to have
some mental recognition
of it.
It's not enough
to have grown up
in a Christian home
and to attend church services
on a regular basis.
All those things
are outward trappings.
Where is your heart?
At the end of chapter 3
we found three categories.
We found his family
coming to him
thinking that he was insane.
That he was a lunatic.
We saw the scribes
accusing him
of being a liar.
Saying that he couldn't
possibly be
the son of God
but that he must be
the son of Satan
doing these miracles
from the power of Satan.
And then we see
those who are truly
his family
his mothers
and his brothers
doing the will of God
and that is to believe
that he is the Christ.
So he's either going to be
a liar
a lunatic
or Lord
in your life.
And this
question
and the answer to it
has such
great
consequence.
I would plead with you
if you can't say
with confidence
you place your faith
in Christ
do that today.
Begin searching.
Begin asking questions.
Begin stepping out
of Christendom
this little bubble
that we live in
that for some people
is so magical
and neat
and for some people
is so distasteful
because they've seen
the hypocrisy
so many.
And begin to really
ask questions
of your heart.
What do I believe
about Jesus Christ?
There is no more
important question
in this world.
Do I believe
that he was
in fact
the Son of God?
And if what he said
was true
about himself
then this Bible
these scriptures
are of utmost importance
and the way we arrange
our lives by them
matter immensely.
The question
the answer to this question
has eternal consequence
and I can't
with you
I'm right there with you
I'm not more high minded
than you
I cannot wrap my mind
around eternity.
I do not know
what that looks like.
Every example I've seen
people have told me
oh I saw this great example
somebody was showing
about eternity
that is a poor example
of eternity.
A piece of string
stretched across a string
with a little flag on it
this is your life
this is eternity
no
you can measure that
right?
Eternity is much bigger
than that
it's forever
I don't even know
it's so
so difficult to see
but the answer
to this question
has eternal consequence
death
pain
punishment
I fully believe
in hell
Jesus spoke about it
more than he spoke
about heaven
there's retribution
coming
for those who are
enemies of God
who are not found
in his family
what that would be like
I just can't imagine
I can't imagine
what eternal joy
is like
and that's what's promised
to those of us
who do believe
that Jesus is the Christ
this matters not just
for eternity
but it matters now too
the way we arrange our lives
what we believe to be true
matters now
you want to have life
now
believe in Christ
you want to have death
you want to live a miserable life
you've come to the end
of everything
that you think might possibly
bring you some satisfaction
and some joy
continue on that path
right?
reject Jesus as the Christ
you want life
accept him
for who he is
who he said
he is
that's a very piercing
question
have you still
no
faith
that's the calm
after the storm
then there's a bit of a storm
after the calm
it says
and they were filled
with great fear
and said to one another
who then is this
that even the wind
and the sea
obey him
you see their response
of faithlessness
at this point
and they really
should have known
these men
while they were simple men
they would have known
their scriptures
as Jews
they would have been
saturated by this
and they should have
known who he was
Job 38
8-11
says
this is God speaking to Job
or who shut in the sea
with doors
when it burst out
from the womb
when I made clouds
its garment
and thick darkness
its swaddling band
and prescribed limits
for it
and set bars
and doors
and said
thus far shall you come
and no farther
and here shall your proud waves
be stayed
they would have been
familiar with
these words of God
to Job
right
and the clear answer
to that is
me
God
the one who's speaking
I am the one
who set the limits
on the sea
we see in Psalm 65
a Psalm of David
verses 5-8
by awesome deeds
you answer us
with righteousness
O God of our salvation
the hope of all
the ends of the earth
and of the farthest seas
the one who by his strength
established the mountains
being girded with might
who stills the roaring
of the seas
the roaring of their waves
the tumult of the peoples
so that those who dwell
at the ends of the earth
are in awe at your signs
you make the going out
of the morning
and the evening
to shout for joy
David saw
that this Christ
was going to
still
the roaring
of the waves
and here they are
witnessing it
unique characters
in history
in the boat
with Christ
when there is a
great calm
brought about
by his simple words
peace
be still
and yet they didn't
believe
there is a storm
going on in their hearts
who is
this man
they feared him
it says
a man who speaks
to the waves
and they
obey
what we believe
about Jesus
has to have
some real effect
in our lives
in fact
the word believe
that we see so often
throughout our New Testament
scriptures
is the Greek word
pastuo
and it means
to be persuaded of
to place confidence in
it carries a weight
with it
that's not simply
understanding something
to be true
but understanding it
to be true
and having it affect
the way that you live
it's that kind
of a belief
John 14
12
Jesus says
truly truly
I say to you
whoever
believes in me
will also do
the works
that I do
and greater works
than these
will he do
because I am going
to the Father
whoever believes
in me
has this kind of
deep abiding
belief
this persuasion
this confidence
in who Jesus
is
will also
do the works
that I do
so the belief
in us
births
activity
it births
good works
it births
following the example
of Christ
and to make it so simple
and repetitive
for you
it makes us
disciple making disciples
those who pursue Christ
in all that he did
and Jesus was about
the work
of seeking
and saving
the lost
so the reality
that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God
has real implication
for today's living
we could just look at this
and say
man that was awesome
how cool
Jesus spoke
and the waves stopped
but it has
real implications
for today
this reality
that Jesus Christ
is the Son
of God
1 John 5
12 says
God has given us
eternal life
and this life
is in his Son
he who has the Son
has life
who has not
the Son of God
has not
life
and the opposite
of that being
death
I mentioned that
previously
right
he is
the surety
of our salvation
placing our faith
in him
and that means
something today
your confidence
in who Jesus is
means something
for your position
today
his accomplished
work
is what's granted
you access
into the family
of God
it's what's given
you adoption
you are a
daughter
or a son
of the most
high
because of
the accomplished
work of Christ
we don't believe
he was the
the Son of God
then his work
was nothing
he was just
a man
who was crazy
and died
for his insanity
Galatians 2 20
says that we
live by faith
in the Son of God
who loved us
and gave himself
for us
so it carries out
a process in our
life
the continual
believing
in the good news
of Jesus Christ
carries out a process
of faith for us
it builds our faith
the opposite
puts faith to death
in our lives
as Chris so
poignantly said
this morning
in our Sunday
school class
right
believing
that Jesus
is who he says
he is
believing in the
work that he did
that it has been
accomplished
births faith in us
and so we live
by that
faith
God creates
life in us
in Jesus Christ
and God sustains
life in us
in Jesus Christ
remember who God is
the creator
and sustainer
of everyone
and everything
this happens
by the person
and work
of Jesus Christ
it means something
for you and I
today
it means something
right now
sitting in your chair
this moment
this great reality
this means something
for one of our elders
this morning
Stan Luttrell
and his family
aren't here
you may note
they're in Tennessee
where his father
is potentially dying
he's had a heart condition
had a stint
put in yesterday
we're going to reach
the 24 hour mark
at about noon
of the success
of such an operation
it means something
for them
as they sit
at his bedside
wondering what
will happen to him
it means that God
is able to heal
his father
that it's possible
that that might happen
that he can pray that
that if it's God's will
God can heal his father
if we see
his father
come back
to some
level of rejuvenation
this will be a great work
of God
maybe by the hands
of able doctors
but it will certainly
be a work of God
and Stan's father
as far as he knows
is not a believer
he may be at the very
end of his life
right now
and his eternal
surety
is not secure
his dad may be
facing an eternity
of torment
and separation
from God
knowing that Jesus
is the Christ
knowing that he is
in fact
God himself
that he can say
to the waves
and the wind
peace be still
and they obey him
certainly means
that Jesus is able
to save his father
you can pray
confident prayers
that God would
save his father
it means things
for us
day by day
that we remember
who Jesus
is
the vision statement
of Christ Family Church
that Christ Family Church
exists
to glorify God
by experiencing
proclaiming
and displaying
the supremacy
of Jesus Christ
in all things
to all peoples
is Jesus Christ
supreme
is Jesus Christ
the son of God
made manifest
the one who is being
exalted
at God's right hand
even now
as we speak
if he is this
then he is certainly
supreme
to everything else
in this world
the father himself
has exalted
the son
the spirit
exists
to exalt
the son
he is supreme
to all
things
so is Christ
supreme
in your
experience
in all things
do you experience
Christ to be supreme
in all things
has this truth
worked down into you
in such a way
that you can say
in every moment
of every day
Christ is supreme
Christ is better
than
anything else
that I might
experience
in this world
the clear answer
to that is no
and the clear answer
to that should be
yes
is Christ supreme
in your proclamation
in all things
what do you talk
about
what do you spend
your days
gabbing on about
right
what occupies
your words
so I'll tell you
this
you talk about
the things you love
think over this
past week
the things you
spent your time
talking about
what did you
talk about
this week
not that we
don't ever
talk about
anything else
in this world
right
but is the
personal work
of Jesus Christ
the predominant
thing that you
talked about
this past week
I'm afraid
that the
resounding
answer to that
would be no
for most of us
but the clear
answer should be
yes
Jesus Christ
is supreme
and therefore
I talk about
him
is Christ
supreme
in your
display
in all things
do you live
like you have
a hope
beyond this
world
right
do you live
in such a way
that people see
you and think
you're odd
this person is
different
even in this
Christian culture
that we live in
we should be
set apart
not that we
want to be
set apart
for the sake
of being
set apart
right
sometimes you
can run away
from things
and not ever
know what
you're running
to
right
but a lot
of Christians
don't look
any different
from this
world
they give
no really
clear evidence
that they
have any
hope at all
beyond the
normal things
of this
world
right
how do we
arrange our
lives
this means
things about
the way we
dress
this means
things about
what we
drive
what kind
of professions
we pursue
this means
things about
the quality
of our
study
this means
things about
the quality
of our
work
this means
things about
how we
take care of
our homes
and what we
use our
homes for
right
it means
things for
every aspect
of our
living
and I know
this is a
high and
lofty concept
and it's so
difficult to
take this and
play it out
into every
situation in
your life
but you've
got to start
taking this
reality
and begin
filtering who
you are
through it
is Christ
supreme
in everything
in your life
right
if he's not
when you're not
experiencing them
to be that
then you
have failed
to believe
in that
moment
the reality
of the
gospel
and don't
hear me
saying that
you can
wax and
wane
that you
can
unbelieve
the gospel
right
if you
are gods
you are
gods
you are
secure
in his
hand
and I
have
confidence
that you
will
progress
until the
end
in your
faith
full
confidence
in that
praise
god
for our
soteriology
the doctrines
around
salvation
that we
believe
around
here
the bible
clearly
teaches
!
this
to
us
you're
secure
in that
way
but in
those
moments
you
forget
the
riches
of that
truth
for your
life
in those
moments
right
you fail
to believe
it
at that
time
right
because
belief
really
believing
that Jesus
is who
he said
he is
will have
effect
it will
change
the way
we live
it will
give us
power
to deny
sin
it will
give us
power
to live
righteous
lives
right
these
realities
of the
gospel
we must
filter
everything
through it
so this
is the
storm
after the
calm
and I
hope
for everyone
in here
I maybe
shook you
up a bit
but I
hope that
you find
a calmness
in your
confidence
in your
faith in
Christ
this morning
if you
don't
it's time
to wake
Jesus up
that he
might
calm
that
storm
for you
let's
pray
together