Okay, good morning, Watermark. The scripture reading comes from the book of Matthew, chapter 14.
Please follow along on the bulletin or on your own Bible.
Starting in verse 13, we read,
Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a desolate place by himself.
But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns.
When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
Now when it was evening, the disciples came to him and said,
This is a desolate place, and the day is now over.
Send the crowds away to go into the villages and buy food for themselves.
But Jesus said, They need not go away. You give them something to eat.
They said to him, We have only five loaves here and two fish.
And he said, Bring them here to me.
Then he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass, and taking the five loaves and the two fish,
he looked up to heaven and said a blessing.
Then he broke the loaves and gave them to the disciples.
And the disciples gave them to the crowds.
And they all ate and were satisfied.
And they took up twelve baskets full of the broken pieces left over.
And those who ate were about five thousand men, besides women and children.
Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side,
while he dismissed the crowds.
And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.
When evening came, he was there alone.
But a boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves.
For the wind was against them.
And in the fourth watch of the night, he came to them, walking on the sea.
But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said,
It is a ghost.
And they cried out in fear.
But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying,
Take heart.
It is I.
Do not be afraid.
And Peter answered him,
Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.
He said,
Come.
So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus.
But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink.
He cried out,
Lord, save me.
Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him,
O you of little faith, why did you doubt?
But when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.
And those in the boat worshipped him, saying,
Truly, you are the Son of God.
This is the Word of God.
Great.
Thank you, Iris.
Let's pray together and ask God to speak to us from his Word.
Heavenly Father, Lord Jesus Christ, Holy Spirit,
we gather this morning to declare your praises,
to sing and to worship you in song,
to listen to the testimonies of brothers and sisters,
to see the gospel demonstrated in baptism later,
and to hear you speaking to us from your Word.
God, we want to hear your voice, Lord.
We don't just come to fill our minds with Christian information.
We come to encounter you, the living God, in your living Word.
And so come and speak to us this morning, Lord.
Come and prepare our hearts, God.
Come and help us to see the living Christ in these pages of Scripture.
And help us to trust you, God,
in the storms of life and the challenges that we face.
God, help us to see you for who you are
and to trust you and to worship you.
Come and have your way, we pray.
God, we pray for those of us maybe this morning
that are particularly in the storms of life,
are particularly in a very difficult place.
God, won't you come to us?
Won't you come and walk to us in the storm, God,
and come and draw near to us?
We really need you, Lord, and we want to walk with you.
You know the challenges we face.
You know the waves that buffered us.
Christ, come and have your way in your life, in our lives, we pray.
In your wonderful and gracious name, amen.
Amen.
Making mature disciples, or making mature disciple-making disciples
of Jesus Christ who impact Hong Kong for the glory of God.
I hope that if you've been part of Watermark for some time,
you'll recognize those words.
Those are our mission statement as a church.
A one-sentence summary that describes so much of who we are and what we're doing.
Why do we do the things that we do?
Why do we not do the things that other people do, other churches do?
Why do we do things the way that we do them?
What is it that we're on about?
In many ways, those questions are answered in this one-sentence summary.
We are a church which is laser-focused in its dedication and mission
to make mature disciples who will then disciple others.
And as the gospel gets into our lives, as we gospelize one another,
it will overflow into every area of our lives so that we impact this great city of Hong Kong
for God's glory and the good of our city.
You should know this.
We are not a particularly fancy church, and we're not trying to be a particularly fancy church.
We're not trying to be a particularly big church or a well-known church or the talk of the town.
We don't need our name written in lights.
That can be somebody else's responsibility.
What we are focused on, our purpose and existence,
is to help us, those of us that are part of Watermark,
to mature and grow in our faith,
and to disciple and gospelize one another so that we bless our city for God's glory.
And if you haven't worked out yet, let me tell you a little secret.
The elder pastors, we have an agenda for your life.
This is our hope and goal.
And the reason why that is the case is because we believe Jesus has an agenda for our lives.
This is Jesus' agenda for us, that we will become mature disciples of Jesus.
Remember in Matthew chapter 4, Jesus walking along the Sea of Galilee or the Lake of Galilee,
and he called some very ordinary people, fishermen, tax collectors, ordinary people.
He says, come and follow me, which means come and be with me,
come and become like me, come and do the things that I do.
Be my disciple, my apprentice, my Talmudim.
And then later on, at the end of Matthew, Matthew 28,
Jesus says to those same disciples three years later,
Okay, you're ready, you go out and make disciples.
But unlike other rabbis in the first century,
Jesus doesn't say, go and make disciples of yourself.
You know, you become your own rabbi and make your own disciples.
You go out into all nations and make disciples of me,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,
teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you.
Jesus sends his disciples out to go and make other disciples.
This is what Jesus has called us to do.
This is what we're on about.
When you join Watermark Church, again, I hope you realize this.
If you didn't, let me tell you.
You join a discipleship journey.
You join a family, but not just a family,
a family that is wanting to shape us and inform us and disciple us
to become the people Christ has called us to be.
On Friday night, Claire and Nikki and I were just talking about
how it's possible to be a Christian for 20 years
and yet still be a baby Christian, still be very immature.
You can have 20 years experience, but only one year of maturity.
We were just talking about how Nikki became a Christian last year
and yet just how much she has grown and what a joy that has been.
Now, all of this, what does this have to do with Matthew 14
that Iris read to us?
Well, great question.
In our passage today, we're going to see one way
how Jesus makes disciples.
How Jesus grows us and matures us
into the kinds of people that he wants us to be.
Remember Matthew 4, Jesus calls his disciples.
Matthew 28, he sends them out.
In the middle, Matthew 14, we're going to see one angle
of how Jesus grows us and matures us into his disciples.
Okay?
Now, before we dive in too much,
one of the things we should notice in this passage
is there are two stories that are very similar.
They have the same outline and the same structure.
If you've got your bulletin, you might want to open this up.
Look at how they both begin.
Both stories, the feeding of the 5,000 or the 10,000,
however many thousand there were, there were many,
and Jesus walking on the water,
they both occur in a desolate place,
a God-forsaken place.
One occurs in the wilderness.
I think it's verse 13.
The other one occurs in the storm-tossed seas.
In the biblical language,
the wilderness is always a picture of a God-forsaken place.
And when the seas are raging and storming,
it's a picture of the world and the chaos
and the evil of the world.
That's why in Revelation chapter 4,
remember the sea before the throne of God is crystal clear.
It's a sea like glass because God's presence there
has conquered the chaos of the world.
And so both these stories occur in a God-forsaken place,
so to speak.
Notice also how both stories begin with Jesus
retreating from the busyness of ministry
in order to spend time in prayer.
Look at verse 13.
When Jesus heard these things,
he withdrew from there in a boat
to a desolate place by himself.
Verse 23.
Or 22.
Jesus made the disciples get into a boat
and go across the other side.
After he had dismissed the crowds,
he went up to the mountain by himself to pray.
And both stories begin with Jesus retreating,
withdrawing,
to spend time with his Father,
communing with his Father in prayer.
And this is something we see throughout Jesus' ministry.
He's constantly withdrawing
from the demands of life
and the pressures of ministry
to spend time with his Father
so that when he does minister,
he does so out of a healthy soul,
out of having been close with God.
And something God's been speaking to us about as a church,
that we need to slow down.
We need to be more like Mary,
not so much like Martha.
We need to be those that commune with God.
And then, of course,
notice both stories.
Jesus performs this outrageously awesome miracle, right?
Jesus feeds 10,000 people from a McDonald's Happy Meal.
Okay?
Jesus walks on the storm-tossed sea,
a couple of hundred meters,
maybe a kilometer or so,
out in the middle of the lake.
Jesus then walks in the water
and he quietens with the word
all the wind and the waves.
He brings them into submission.
This is not just some party trick
or something a magician could conjure up,
something an illusionist could conjure up
to wow the crowds.
This is nothing less than the sovereign God
who is in control and charge of all creation.
And, of course, that's what we're meant to see,
that Jesus is the sovereign creator God.
The one who speaks the bread into being
is the one who spoke galaxies and universes
and stars into being.
The one who commanded the wind and the waves to be quiet
is the one who commanded their existence
in the first place.
And so here we have these two stories
paralleled very similar in structure
in which tells us about Jesus,
tells us about his prayer life,
it tells us that he's the sovereign creator God.
But in addition to that,
it's gonna tell us how does Jesus
form and shape disciples after himself?
Okay, that's the big idea
that I think Matthew wants us to see here.
And so, like any good sermon,
we've got three points, okay?
And so the first one is this.
How does Jesus make mature disciples?
Well, the one way he does it
is he reveals our need for him.
He reveals our need for him.
Jesus Christ would often deliberately include
his disciples into situations
which were way beyond their control,
way outside of their comfort zone,
or their ability,
so that they had to rely on him,
and doing so would learn to trust him
and worship him.
You see that?
Jesus would often bring his disciples
into a situation
in which they're way out of their league,
and in doing so,
they are forced to then realize
we don't have what it takes,
we need him,
and in doing so would rely on him
and would trust him and worship him.
Look at verse 15 and 16 in your bulletin.
It's evening time,
which means it's late afternoon in this context.
Jesus had been teaching.
The disciples noticed it's pretty late.
And so they come to Jesus and they say,
Jesus, time to wrap things up.
Let's send these people away
so that they can go and get food.
And look what Jesus says,
verse 15.
They don't need to go away.
You give them something to eat.
Where are the disciples going to get enough food
to feed 10,000 people?
Where are they going to find enough money
to buy this?
Clearly Jesus is asking them
to do the impossible.
And of course Jesus knows
exactly what he's doing.
He's not reluctant to help them.
Jesus doesn't feed them later on
because he says,
okay, fine, I guess I'll do a miracle.
We kind of left things a little late.
Jesus knows the whole time
exactly what he's doing.
He's drawing his disciples in.
He's saying, no, you do it.
So that they'll come to the place
where they realize they can't do it
so that Jesus will show them who he is.
And Jesus does the same things
a couple of hours later.
He sends his disciples out onto the lake
knowing full well a momentous storm
is coming their way.
Verse 22 says,
Jesus made the disciples go out into the boat.
And the English translation there
is not very clear.
The Greek says,
he compelled them.
He forced them.
Jesus deliberately forced them
to go in the boat onto the storm
knowing that a storm is coming.
Jesus draws them in
and puts them in a situation
way beyond their ability
so that they're forced to recognize
their need for him.
And when Jesus does come
to rescue them
and Peter says,
it's you, the Christ?
If it really has caused me
to walk on the water
and Jesus says,
come, walk to me
on the raging seas.
Obviously, it's beyond Peter's ability.
And notice how in both of these stories,
Jesus leaves things really late.
I mean, somebody needs to help Jesus
with his timekeeping.
Early on, he could have said,
listen guys, it's getting late.
Why don't you go and get a meal?
Right?
And then we can continue this tomorrow.
But Jesus leaves things
till it's too late
so that the disciples
will be in a place
where they have to trust him.
And notice in the second story,
Jesus sends his disciples
after sunset,
he goes up into the mountain
and then it tells us
that he comes to them
in the fourth watch of the night
which is between 3 a.m.
and 6 a.m. in the morning.
In other words,
Jesus sends them out after sunset
and eight to 10 hours later,
he comes to rescue them.
Jesus knows that a storm's coming.
He could have just said,
listen guys,
best you stay here tonight.
Tomorrow we'll go over the water.
But he compels them to go out.
Do you see what Jesus is doing?
He's orchestrating things
so that the disciples
are out of their depth
so that they'll be forced
to rely on him.
Friends, as you read the scriptures,
God is constantly doing this.
Remember how Moses
in Exodus chapter 3
comes face to face with God
and God says,
I've heard the cries of my people.
I've seen their agony.
I know what they're going through.
I'm sending you
to go and speak to Pharaoh
and deliver them.
And Moses says,
Jesus,
God,
great idea.
I'd love to go.
There's only one problem.
I can't really speak.
There's a problem here.
You're going to have to
send somebody else.
And God says,
no,
you're the exact person I want.
I will go with you.
Moses goes to Pharaoh.
Pharaoh eventually
saves,
delivers them
or sets them free
by the blood of the Lamb.
God rescues them
way beyond
what Israel could do.
They're saved.
They're coming out of Egypt.
They're rejoicing
until they come to a roadblock.
There's a sea in front of them.
There's mountains
on the side of them.
Pharaoh's army
is chasing them behind.
They're cornered
all four sides.
Where are they going to go?
God rescues them.
Remember how
God says to Abraham,
Abraham,
you're going to be
the father of many people.
All the descendants
of the world
are going to be blessed
through you.
You're going to have
descendants as great
as the stars in the sky,
the sea and the sand shore.
I'm going to bless you
and your family.
There's just one problem.
Your wife is barren
and you cannot have
any children.
What's he going to do?
Friends,
remember how God
calls Gideon
to lead the battle
against the Midianites.
There's 120,000
Midianites
camped against them
and Gideon says,
okay,
I'll get my army.
Okay,
30,000.
That's all I can muster
but that'll have to do.
30,000,
we'll take on 125,000.
God says,
no, no, no,
your army is too big.
Just whittle them down.
Okay,
they get whittled down
to 10,000.
Okay,
God,
this is not looking good.
10,000 against 120,000
but I guess
if you're with us
we can do it.
God says,
no,
your army is still too big.
Whittle them down
to 300.
Okay,
now you're 300.
Now you're ready to go.
Friends,
you see what God is doing?
He's constantly
bringing his people
to the place
where they're way
out of their depths,
where they cannot
save themselves
so that they must
rely on God,
the one who saves them.
And when we read
the New Testament,
we see the same thing.
The apostles
who accomplish
great things for God
are constantly
being led by God
to the place
where they do not
have control.
Listen to what
the apostle Paul says
in 2 Corinthians 1.
He says,
We do not want you
to be unaware,
brothers,
of the affliction
we experienced in Asia.
We were so utterly
burdened
beyond our own strength
that we despaired
of life itself.
Indeed,
we felt we had received
the sentence of death,
but that was to make us
rely not on ourselves,
but on God
who raises the dead.
Paul goes on later
in the same book
in 2 Corinthians
and he says,
I will boast
more gladly
of my weakness
so that the power
of Christ may rest in me.
For the sake of Christ,
I'm pretty happy
to be full of weakness,
insults,
hardships,
persecutions,
calamities.
When I am weak,
when I've come
to the end of myself,
that's when I know
I'm strong
because that's when
Christ's strength
is at work within me.
This is the way
that God is working.
This is how God
grows his people.
One of the greatest
Christian thinkers
of the last century,
an amazing man
by the name of J.I. Packer,
he passed away
earlier this year
in his mid-90s
or maybe late last year
and he wrote a book
based on 2 Corinthians
called
Weakness is the Way.
It's a very unusual book
and it's all
unpacking 2 Corinthians
but listen to what he says.
He says,
the way of the true
spiritual strength
leading to real fruitfulness
in the Christian life
and service
is the humble,
self-distrustful way
of consciously
recognized weakness
in spiritual things.
The Apostle Paul
demonstrated
a sustained recognition
that feeling weak
in oneself
is part of the cause
for the Christian life
and therefore
something one may
properly be content with.
In this,
Paul models
that the discipleship,
spiritual maturity
and the growth
that all believers
are called to pursue,
for all Christians,
the likelihood
is that as our
discipleship continues,
God will make us
increasingly weakness
conscious
and pain aware
so that we may learn
with Paul
that when we are
conscious of being weak
and able
out of our depth,
then and only then
may we truly become
strong in the Lord.
God is doing
and that's what God is doing.
That's what Jesus
is doing with these
disciples.
He brings them
to a situation
where they do not
have what it takes,
where they cannot do
what he's asking them
to do
so that they'll look
to him
and he will show
them who he is.
He's revealing
their weakness.
He does this
with Paul.
He does this
with all Christians.
Another great example
of this
is a man by the name
of George Mueller.
If you have heard of him,
he was a German Christian
in the 19th century,
the 1800s.
He grew up
in not a Christian home
but his dad
wanted him to be
a pastor,
a clergyman
because in Germany
in the 19th century,
if you worked
for the Lutheran church,
the state paid
your salary
and it was a very
lucrative career.
These days we become
bankers
and those days
you became pastors
and maybe still
these days
we become pastors,
right?
If you think of
celebrity pastors
online,
that's a whole
other story.
Anyway,
George Mueller.
His dad wants him
to become a clergyman
so he sends him
off to seminary
but he doesn't
give rocks
for God
and the church.
In fact,
when his mom
is dying
on her deathbed,
he's busy gambling
and getting drunk
down the road.
He was addicted
to gambling.
He's an alcoholic
as a teenager,
14 years old.
Anyway,
he goes off to seminary,
doesn't care at all
but he thinks
he's going to get
a good degree,
he's got a good
career lined up.
At the end
of the seminary,
a friend drags him
into a prayer meeting
and he encounters
the living God
just like Mark
in hospital,
right?
He confesses,
I believe in God
the Father,
I believe in Christ
the Son,
I believe in the Holy Spirit.
He falls to his knees
and his life
is turned around
and he realized
that God has called
him to ministry
but not to become
a rich clergyman,
he becomes a missionary
and so he goes
to England
and he decides
to work with
the poor,
the vulnerable,
children of society,
the orphans
and the marginalized
and he starts
educating
the poor people
of English society
and he starts
a school
and he starts
an orphanage
and by the end
of his life
he has started
120 schools
educating
120,000
children.
He pretty much
no fee
paying schools,
educated them
himself,
paid for it
largely his own way.
In addition to that
he sets up
tens of orphanages,
has 10,000 orphans
come through his care
that he feeds,
educates
and provides
for them.
He prints,
he decides
people need Bibles
so he prints
300,000 Bibles,
1.5 million
New Testaments
he prints
and distributes
to those
that don't have
Bibles
and he does this
refusing
any fundraising
efforts.
People came to
him and said
let's fundraise
and he said
no, no, no
God will provide
let's not ask
anybody for money
so he wouldn't
ask for any money.
10,000 orphans
120,000 children
in his schools
a million Bibles
in his ministry
he raised
the equivalent
of 120 million
pounds
worth of money
in today's value
without any
fundraising
no government
support.
But listen to
what George Mueller
writes
he says
we should not
shrink back
from opportunities
where our faith
may be tested.
The more I am
in a position
to be tested
in faith
the more I have
the opportunity
of seeing God's
help and deliverance.
Every fresh instance
in which he helps
and delivers me
will increase my faith.
The believer
should not shrink
back from situations
positions or circumstances
in which his faith
may be tested
but he should
cheerfully embrace
them as opportunities
to see the hand
of God
stretched out
in help
and deliverance.
Thus will his faith
be strengthened.
And we can tell
story after story
after story.
Friends this is what
God is doing here.
This is what he's doing
with the disciples.
And if you want
to take discipleship
of Jesus seriously
which if you're part
of Watermark
we hope you do
and we will help
you do that
God will do
the same for you.
He will call you
into situations
which are way
beyond your control
outside of your ability
way beyond you
in order to reveal
your need for him
to expose your weakness
so that you can come
to the end of yourself
and wholly rely
on him.
How does God grow us?
He reveals our need
for him.
Now
God does more than that.
In revealing
our need for him
he doesn't just want
to humble us
and say
be humble
suckers
realize you're just human
I am God
rah rah rah
he wants to reveal
our need for him
so that we can see
who he is.
And that's the second thing
to reveal
who he is.
In these stories
Jesus does
two things
to reveal
who he is.
We spoke about
the fact that
the miracles
reveal him
to be mighty
and sovereign
that he's the creator
God of all creation
the sovereign Lord.
But Jesus wants
to show his disciples
more than just
that he's powerful
and mighty
he wants to show them
that he is the one
true God
the creator of heaven
and earth
the sustainer
of everyone
and everything
as the catechism says
that he is
the one true God
of Israel
the God of Abraham
Isaac and Jacob.
Look at the first
story with me
in chapter 14.
Jesus takes these
loaves and fishes
and he multiplies them
into a feast
for many thousands
of people.
But in verse 19
Matthew doesn't comment
on the fish at all
he only talks about
the loaves.
Look at what he says
in verse 19
it says
then he ordered
the crowd
to sit down
in the grass
taking the loaves
and two fish
he looked up
to heaven
then he broke
the loaves
gave them to
the disciples
and they gave
them to the crowd.
In other words
he deliberately
neglects the
comment on the fish
and I think
what Matthew
is doing here
he wants his
congregation
to think back
to another time
in Israel's history
where God
fed his people
in the wilderness
with bread.
Matthew wants
us to see
that Jesus
is the God
that provided
manna in the
wilderness
for his people.
In other words
Matthew wants
us to see
just as God
provided manna
for Moses
and the people
in the wilderness
so Jesus
providing bread
for his people
here
Jesus is
Jehovah Jireh
the great provider.
But in the second
story it's even
more obvious.
Look at verse 27
with me.
The disciples
are in the boat
the wind and the
waves are buffeting
them.
Jesus comes
walking to them
on the water
and by the way
it says here
when they were
a long way off
the Greek says
many hundreds of
meters possibly
a kilometer and
a half into the
water.
Jesus wasn't just
walking on the
shore he wasn't
just walking in
water that deep
sometimes we think
maybe Jesus
walked on the
water and was
only an inch deep
Jesus is about
a kilometer in
he walks towards
them and they
are freaked out
because they
think they see
a ghost and
look at what
Jesus says
take heart
it is I
do not be
afraid.
Now again
the English
translation here
doesn't really
help us.
The Greek says
take heart
it is I am
do not be
afraid.
Do you see
where Jesus is
going?
If you're new
to church this
might be new
to you.
In the Old
Testament God
gives himself
a name.
He gives
himself a very
unusual name.
the name
that God
gives himself
is I
am or I
am that I
am.
Remember when
Moses meets
God at the
burning bush in
Exodus chapter
3 God
says Moses
go to Pharaoh
and tell him
God says let
my people go.
And Moses
says well there
are lots of
gods which
god is it?
Who should I
say?
And God
says tell
them that
Yahweh I
am who I
am says let
my people go.
God gives
himself a name
and the name
is this unusual
name that he
is.
It describes
his essence.
God simply
is.
He is the
one true
supreme God.
He's not just
the God of
the Jews.
He's not just
the God of
Israel.
He's not just
the God of
America or
the God of
white people.
He is the
one true God.
He's not just
the God of
ancient times.
He's not a
God limited to
a time or
geography or
space.
He is who
he is.
He is the
supreme being
of all
time,
all nations,
all countries,
all galaxies,
all everything.
He is who
he is.
He is the
absolutely
supreme being.
And his
name is
I am
Yahweh.
In fact so
important was
his name that
if anyone
abused it
they would be
stoned to
death.
God's name is
sacred.
But it's more
than that.
It's his
covenant faithful
name.
Whenever God
in the Old
Testament uses
his name
Yahweh it's
meant to
remind God's
people of his
covenant faithfulness
that when God
has spoken he
will deliver.
Friends look at
what Jesus says
here.
Do not be
afraid.
I am is
here.
He's saying
the God that
rescued his
people from
Egypt, the
God who saved
them and
delivered them
from Babylon,
the God who
for generations
has been there
for his people
is with you
in the boat.
Do not be
afraid.
Friends in
contemporary
Christianity we
think that God
rescues us from
the storms of
life as Mark
said earlier so
that we can get
back on with
our lives.
We come to
church, we say
a prayer, we sing
some songs, we
drop some money
in the offering,
God will forgive
us, he'll rescue
us from our
storms, save
us so that we
can get back to
a comfortable and
easy life.
But Jesus
wants to come
to us in the
storms of life
so that we
can see him
for who he
is.
That he will
open our
eyes to see
that he is
God and that
we are not.
That we will
be humbled to
worship him.
When Jesus
comes to us in
the storms of
life it's not
just to help
us get along
so that life
can be more
comfortable, it's
that he can
save us, that
he can rescue
us so that we
can see him
for who he
is.
And that's
what he does
here in these
stories.
He comes
to his
disciples, they're
way out of
their league, and
he says, let me
show you who I
am.
I am not just a
wise man, I'm
not just a sage, I'm
not just a good
moral man, I'm not
just a teacher, I am
who I am, I am the
eternal, uncreated,
sovereign, supreme
God, I am God.
Friends, are you
going through a
storm in life at the
moment?
some challenge that
is beyond you?
Do you feel
overwhelmed, do you
feel buffeted by the
storms and the wind
and the wave?
Jesus wants to
reveal himself to
you in that place.
He wants you to see
him for who he is.
Friends, maybe you
hear this morning
and you're not a
Christian, and things
are not going well in
your life, and you
think, where is God?
If only he cared, maybe
he would do
something.
Friends, because he
cares, he's doing
something.
He's bringing you
right into the eye
of the storm.
He's bringing you to
a place where you
cannot save yourself
so that you can see
you need him, so that
he can save you.
Friends, maybe Jesus
brought you here this
morning to save and
rescue you.
He took Mark to a
hospital bed.
He took the disciples
into the eye of the
storm.
Maybe he's doing the
same for you because
he wants to save you.
Jesus grows in his
disciples by bringing
them to the place
where they need him,
by revealing himself
finally and fully.
Thirdly, let's look,
Jesus calls us to
worship him.
Now, in Matthew's
gospel, it's not very
clear because he
doesn't say how the
crowds responded after
they'd been fed this
massive feast, but in
John's gospel, John
tells us.
They cry out, this
indeed is the prophet
who has come into the
world.
Jesus feeding the
5,000 leads to
worship.
But look at the end
of the second story.
Jesus rescues the
disciples there in the
boat.
Look at verse 33.
He quietens the wind
and the waves.
He gets into the boat
with them.
And then Matthew tells
us, those in the boat
worshipped him, saying,
truly you are the son of
God.
Up until this point in
Matthew's gospel, the
disciples have never said
that.
In Matthew chapter 4,
God says at Jesus'
baptism, this is my son
with whom I'm well
pleased.
In Matthew chapter 8,
the demons confess, you
are the son of God.
But the disciples have
never said that.
Until now.
And the reason is
because no first
century Jew would
ever think of ascribing
to another human being
divinity.
I mean, that's the
height of blasphemy.
You get stoned for
that.
No Jew would ever call
another man God.
And yet here the
disciples, having seen
who Jesus is, they
worship him.
Truly you are the
son of God.
Friends, Jesus wants
to bring us to the
place of seeing how
desperately we need
him.
Jesus wants to reveal
himself to us and then
Jesus calls us to
worship him.
You know, that's the
point of Sunday
worship, why we gather
on Sundays.
We don't just gather to
fill our minds with
Christian information.
You can do that at
home online.
You can read a book
or read the Bible.
We gather because six
days a week we are
buffeted by the storms
of life.
We are buffeted by
false truths that tell
us that life is found
in all sorts of other
things.
And we gather weekly on
a Sunday to be reminded
who Jesus is.
To be reminded how much
we need him and to
worship him.
To lift him up and to
ascribe to him that you
are God and that I am
not.
You are worthy of my
entire life.
This is what Jesus
calls us to do.
But oh friends, can't
you also see in the
story the gospel?
Can't you see how God
is revealing to us the
gospel here?
Because the gospel
tells us that we too
cannot rescue ourselves
and cannot save
ourselves.
The whole point of the
Bible is to bring us to
a place where we see
that we are desperately
in trouble.
We are not just in the
storms of life.
The storms that we
face are not just a bad
day at the office or
COVID.
We are in the storm of
God's judgment because of
our sin.
And we cannot save
ourselves.
It is utterly beyond
us.
And so the point of the
gospel is to reveal to
us that we need a
savior.
We need one who was
with the father,
communing, who left the
comfort of heaven to
come down and to be with
us.
To walk into the storm
that we were facing,
into the very wrath of
God and to take it upon
himself on the cross so
that we could be saved.
And as we look upon that
man, behold the man upon
the cross, we see him for
who he is.
We see that Jesus was not
just a good man, not just
a moral teacher, not just
a sage who said wise
things.
The point of the cross is
to reveal to us who he is
and how great need for him
and then to lead us to
worship.
Friends, at the heart of
the gospel is the
declaration we need him
for this life and for
life to come.
But at the heart of the
gospel is that Jesus came
to do that for us.
Remember Ephesians
chapter 2, as for you,
you were dead in your
trespasses and sins in
which you walked in the
following the prince of
the power of the air,
enslaved to the desires of
the lusts of flesh and
under God's wrath and
judgment.
But because of his great
love for us, this God,
who loves us immensely
and his great mercy has
made us alive with Christ
Jesus.
You are saved, you are
raised with Christ Jesus
and he has made you
alive with Christ.
This is by grace, not
through works.
This is not of your own
doing.
It is a gift of God so
that no one can boast.
This is what Jesus is
doing.
He came to his disciples
in the storm.
He comes to us in the
storm so that we can see
he is the one true God
and worship him.
Friends, what about you?
Do you want to grow in
grace?
Do you want to become the
mature disciple that Jesus
is calling you to be?
Maybe Jesus is leading you
into the storms of life.
Maybe he is leading you to
a place that is utterly
beyond your control.
In his kindness, he is
bringing you to a place
where you see your great
need for him.
He wants to open your
eyes so that you can see
him, that you can cry out
to him.
That you, like the
disciples, can say,
Jesus, save me.
And then you can worship
him.
Let's pray together.
Lord Jesus Christ, we do
come before you this
morning and God, we
acknowledge that in your
kindness, God, you often
lead us to places that are
not always comfortable.
But because you want to
save us from the delusion
of thinking that we can
save ourselves.
You want us to see you for
who you are and to cry out
to you and to be saved.
Lord, we know that this is
not only the way into the
kingdom, this is also the
way of the kingdom.
This is the Christian life.
It's not only the way how
that we become Christians,
it's how we deliver as
Christians, constantly
dependent on you, aware of
our need for you, no longer
trying to save ourselves.
And so God, I pray for us
as a church.
Lord, no doubt almost all of
us here are facing storms of
various kinds.
For some of us, we've lost a
loved one.
For some of us, it's our
children.
For some of us, it's our
parents.
For some of us, it's at work.
For some of us, it's the
longings of our hearts.
God, for some of us, it's the
words that people have spoken
over us.
God, for some of us, it's
mental health challenges.
For some of us, it's fear
about the future.
God, every one of us are
facing the storms.
Lord, help us to not try and
save ourselves.
Help us to fall onto our
knees.
open our eyes, we pray, and
to call out to you, to
worship you for who you
are.
We pray this in your
wonderful and your
glorious name.
Amen.
I want to ask if we can take
a few minutes.
We should have a slide.
I think there's a next
slide, the response.
We should have two
questions.
What is it that God is
wanting to say to us
today?
I hope it's been relatively
clear.
If not, we can start again.
Should we go back to the
beginning?
But secondly, what does it
look like for us to
respond?
You know, when God speaks to
us, he's not just wanting to
fill our mind with
information.
He speaks so that we will
respond to him.
It's like when you have a
conversation with someone,
when someone talks, we don't
just say, okay, that's
interesting.
In order to build
relationship, we respond.
What does it look like to
respond to God this morning?
Let's take a few minutes and
reflect on that.
And then Cynthia will lead us
in a song of worship.