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The holy gospel of our Lord 
Jesus Christ, according to Mark,

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on that day, when evening had 
come, he said to them, Let us go

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across to the other side, and 
leaving the crowd, they took him

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with them in the boat, just as 
he was. 

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And the other boats were with 
him, and a great windstorm 

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arose, and the waves were 
breaking into the boat, so that 

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the boat was already feeling. 
But he was in the stand asleep 

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on the cushion. 
And they woke him, and say to 

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him, Teacher, do you not care 
that we are perishing? 

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And he awoke and rebuked the 
wind, and say to the sea, Peace 

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be still. 
And the wind ceased, and there 

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was a great calm. 
And he said to them, Why are you

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afraid? 
Have you still no faith? 

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And they were filled with great 
fear, and say to one another, 

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Who then is this, that even the 
wind and the sea obey him, the 

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gospel of the Lord? 
Let's pray together, Lord, we 

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pray now that we would be given 
the eyes of faith and even more 

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so, Lord, than the eyes of 
faith, give us the heart of 

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faith, a deep level confidence 
that you are the Lord and that 

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you know what you're doing and 
that we can trust you in our 

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life and in our death. 
We pray this all in the name of 

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the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Amen. 

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Well, please be seated and 
hello, good morning, happy 

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Easter tide. 
We're back in our series called 

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simply Jesus as we are going 
through the Gospel of Mark, the 

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Gospel of Mark, one of the 
earliest gospels to be written, 

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and we're today in Mark 4, 
verses 35 through 41. 

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You can turn them your Bibles or
your bulletins. 

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Well, on January 15th, 2009, 
Captain Sully Sullenberger and 

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First Officer Jeffrey Skiles, 
we're piloting U.S. 

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Airways Flight 1549. 
Everyone on board the flight 

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expected a routine flight from 
New York to North Carolina. 

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Shortly after takeoff, the plane
reached an elevation of 3000 

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feet and at that point a flock 
of birds flew directly into the 

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engines. 
And the engines died instantly 

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and immediately the plane had no
power whatsoever, and it began 

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to free fall back toward the 
ground. 

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Captain Sully at that moment 
uttered 2 fateful words. 

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My aircraft. 
And in the next 208 seconds, he 

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steeled his nerves, he focused 
his mind, and he guided his 

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plane towards the only available
run runway to him, which was the

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Hudson River. 
Seconds before the plane landed 

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on that watery runway, he spoke.
He got onto the cabin speaker, 

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and he said, brace for impact. 
And the plane landed where he 

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had been planning for it to 
land, which was in the exact 

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spot he knew, the New York City 
area, the exact spot where the 

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rescuers could get to the plane 
in time so that the passengers 

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would not freeze to death and 
drown in the cold water. 

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And they were all rescued. 155 
passengers survived, all 155. 

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And it was interesting after 
this happened, after 42 years of

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being an ordinary obscure, you 
know, playing captain, Captain 

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Sully became this phenomenon. 
He became this global hero. 

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And the only difference was the 
crisis. 

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It was the crisis that raised 
everyone's confidence in the 

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captain. 
Now, many of us have pretty 

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limited ordinary expectations 
for Jesus Christ. 

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In theory, he's Lord. 
In theory, he's savior. 

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But when it comes to our actual 
problems that we deeply care 

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about, we don't trust him. 
Not specifically, not 

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practically. 
You know, you think about the 

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things that Christians confess. 
He's Lord over heaven and earth,

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but not over our flooding 
basements. 

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He's going to raise us up in the
last day, but he probably 

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doesn't care about our back 
pain. 

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He's the wisdom of God who 
created all things, but he can't

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really help me with his final 
exam. 

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We might be familiar with the 
word Christology. 

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Familiar with that word 
Christology. 

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It's the doctrine of Christ. 
We confess Christology every 

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every time we confess the creed.
I believe in Jesus Christ, his 

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only Son, our Lord. 
He will come again to judge the 

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living and the dead, and his 
Kingdom will have no end. 

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What a high Christology we have 
as Christians in theory, but 

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sometimes we have a low 
Christology in practice, and 

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sometimes it takes a crisis to 
close the gap between our high 

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Christology in theory and our 
low Christology in our heart. 

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Sometimes it takes a crisis to 
reveal how much we should have 

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confidence in the captain. 
Sometimes it takes a trial to 

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raise that confidence. 
And that's really what faith is.

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Faith is practical confidence in
Christ. 

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It's turning to Jesus in 
situations that traumatize us, 

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that perplex us, that annoy us, 
that overwhelm us. 

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That's what faith really is. 
You know, sometimes I wish there

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was another way. 
I really wish that sometimes 

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that the way to faith wasn't so 
storm tossed. 

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Maybe you wish that too. 
And I think that's why we can't 

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miss the opening details of the 
story from the Gospel of Mark 

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today, because these first 
couple verses in Mark 4, verses 

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35 and 36 show us that the Lord 
Jesus leads his people into 

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storms. 
Don't miss it. 

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Sometimes the Lord Jesus leads 
his people directly into the 

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storm. 
Let's look together at verses 35

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and 36 as Mark the evangelist 
tells us this. 

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On that day when evening had 
come, he said to them, let us go

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across to the other side, and 
leaving the crowd, they took him

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with them in the boat, just as 
he was, and other boats were 

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with him. 
Some context here is that Jesus 

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has just completed a teaching 
day. 

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He was in the boat probably most
of the day teaching, and this 

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was the day, according to Mark, 
that he was teaching a lot of 

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the parables, especially the 
parable of the sower, parable of

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those four different soils. 
It was that kind of ministry 

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that he was doing and crowds 
were coming to him and the boat 

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was kind of helping to keep some
distance between him and the 

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crowds all day ministry. 
And when evening had come, he 

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needed a rest. 
Jesus is ready to turn his 

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pulpit, as it were, into a cot, 
sort of going to double as a as 

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a cot for him. 
But the other thing too, is that

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he has other plans for the 
disciples, plans to grow their 

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faith, plans to test them. 
The disciples obey. 

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They have no idea what's ahead. 
You know, Jesus sneakily says, 

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let us go across to the other 
side. 

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They don't know what's in store,
but they push off from the 

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shore. 
Maybe they kind of exhale deeply

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as they sail off into the 
beautiful pink and blue sunset. 

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Watch the crowds grow smaller 
and smaller in their line of 

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sight. 
And they're like, all right, now

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it's time for a break. 
Someone once said God's 

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appointments are sometimes our 
disappointments. 

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But I think we could adjust it 
to say that sometimes God 

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navigates us into agitation. 
You know, Jesus Christ sometimes

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sails us into storms, and he's 
not the author of chaos, He's 

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not the author of evil. 
But in his wisdom, sometimes he 

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leads us straight into storms, 
straight into the storm. 

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That's exactly where he wants 
us. 

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He knows the storm is coming. 
He knows we're going to get wet,

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but he also knows that we're 
going to see him as the Savior 

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in practical detail, in vivid 
detail, that he's sovereign, 

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that he's the captain now, 
someone who is on this very boat

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ride wrote years later these 
words quote. 

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Don't be surprised. 
Don't be surprised when the 

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fiery ordeal comes among you to 
test you as if something unusual

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were happening to you. 
Don't be surprised, this veteran

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of the boat ride says, When a 
fiery ordeal comes upon you to 

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test you, don't be shocked at 
storms as if they aren't 

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supposed to happen. 
He goes on to say this. 

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Rejoice as you share in the 
sufferings of Christ, so that 

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you may also rejoice with great 
joy when His glory is revealed. 

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If Christ is in the boat with 
us, He's got good purposes for 

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us in it. 
Thus let us go across to the 

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other side, come what may, and 
as they sail into the open 

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waters, here's what the people 
in the boat discover that the 

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storm we're in is bigger than 
the boats we've got. 

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The storm we're in is much 
bigger than the boats we've got.

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Verse 37. 
And a great windstorm arose and 

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the waves were breaking into the
boat so that the boat was 

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already filling. 
Now, Mark, he's using a really 

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interesting eclectic mix of 
Greek words to sort of paint the

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picture of a like mini 
hurricane. 

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And these would happen sometimes
in the Sea of Galilee because of

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where it was located. 
It was actually in a valley 

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surrounded by cliffs. 
You've got you've got some warm 

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air. 
You've got cold air mashing 

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together like in Chicago, but 
even worse when you're in a boat

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and it's not very large. 
Picture black clouds splitting 

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Thunder, waves the size of 
walls, and they're coming up 

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upon you and they're crashing 
down on you. 

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When you're sailing, wind is 
usually good, but you've got to 

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be in control of it. 
The minute you're not in control

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of the wind, you're in trouble 
if you're on a boat. 

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About 40 years ago, 
archaeologists discovered a 1st 

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century fishing boat from the 
Sea of Galilee, and it was very 

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likely the kind that Jesus and 
his disciples were in. 

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This boat was not long. 
It's about 27 feet long. 

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It's about 7 feet wide, and it's
about four feet deep. 

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About yay deep. 
That's not a lot of room for 

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water, and when you've got 13 
men in a 27 foot boat and it's 

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only about EA deep, that is not 
very much boat for a huge 

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miniature hurricane. 
The storm they were in was 

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bigger than the boat they had. 
The storm they were in was more 

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powerful even than their 
training as fishermen who were 

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on the Sea of Galilee all the 
time. 

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Now, often there is a gap 
between the size of our storm 

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and the equipment we have to 
handle the storm. 

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For example, when we become 
parents, we are sailing into a 

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storm. 
Storms are going to hit, and 

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they're going to hit our kids, 
and we're going to have no idea 

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as to what we're supposed to do 
at every stage of their life. 

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Sometimes the problem that we'll
encounter and that our kids will

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encounter are going to leave us 
feeling helpless and afraid. 

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Our finances can be a storm, 
expenses can be as vast as the 

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sky and our financial resources 
about yay high, or the problems 

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are as big as a miniature 
hurricane. 

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But money's capacity, even if we
have enough of it, are like it 

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can do about this much to stop 
the problems from happening, not

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what we were told. 
Our health challenges can be 

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larger than the resources we 
have to fix it, larger than the 

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resources that our doctors have 
to fix it, larger than our 

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strength to fix it or to even to
endure it. 

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The chronic pain, the acute 
injuries, the diseases that 

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outpace the medicine, the storms
sometimes are just overwhelming,

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painful conflict, threats, 
lawsuits, physical attacks on 

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our safety. 
What are the storms, friends of 

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your life, and how deep and wide
is the boat that you have to 

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navigate it? 
There's probably too much storm 

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and too little boat, and I like 
the disciples in these 

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situations. 
It appears that Jesus doesn't 

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care. 
It appears that Jesus doesn't 

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care. 
Verse 38, we find that the boat 

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is swamped and the disciples are
soaked and they Verse 38 He was 

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asleep in the stern. 
Jesus asleep in the stern. 

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How dare he asleep on the 
cushion? 

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And they woke him and said to 
him, Teacher, do you not care 

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that we are perishing now? 
What's the deal with Jesus 

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napping? 
Well, on a human level, the man 

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is tired. 
He's OK. 

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He's been ministering all day 
long. 

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There's no nap that I find like 
a Sunday afternoon nap. 

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On a divine level, the Lord is 
trusting. 

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He knows the Father will take 
care of him, and he actually can

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sleep in the storm because, you 
know, at the very core of his 

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being, even his nervous system, 
he just trusts that the Father's

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going to take care of 
everything. 

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He's in what some people call 
the easy yoke. 

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But this is offensive to the 
disciples because they're not 

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matching. 
He's not matching their level of

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panic. 
And it reveals what they 

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actually believe. 
Notice that what they call him. 

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Notice what they say about him 
in verse 38, Teacher, they don't

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call him Lord. 
They don't call him Savior. 

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They don't call him Son of God. 
They don't use any of those 

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honorifics because what comes 
out is what's actually in their 

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hearts. 
Teacher, do you not care that we

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are perishing? 
Not only do they believe that 

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they're dying, we're perishing. 
They believe that they're dying,

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00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:15,880
but they also believe Jesus 
doesn't care. 

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And I find myself here. 
It's such a human moment that 

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when we suffer, we're tempted to
believe that God doesn't see it 

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and that God doesn't care. 
He's either not close enough to 

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us or he's not. 
He's not able to help us or He 

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00:16:33,760 --> 00:16:41,200
doesn't care. 
Before the storms grow our 

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confidence in Christ, my 
friends, they really do have to 

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reveal that we don't have that 
confidence in the first place. 

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00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:52,880
And it's part of growing our 
faith is getting tested like 

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00:16:52,880 --> 00:16:56,000
this. 
Is Jesus the Lord with power to 

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00:16:56,000 --> 00:16:58,480
save? 
Does he care enough to save us? 

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00:16:58,480 --> 00:17:01,320
Is he close enough to the 
situations to save us? 

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00:17:01,320 --> 00:17:05,480
And can he redeem any losses 
past, present or future and make

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00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:10,359
good of the pain? 
Storms are going to test whether

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00:17:10,359 --> 00:17:13,119
or not we're going to say yes to
those questions or no. 

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00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:18,440
And I find, as you know, you 
look at those words, do you not 

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00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:21,480
care? 
There's some accusation there. 

243
00:17:22,240 --> 00:17:24,160
There's some accusation in those
words. 

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00:17:24,400 --> 00:17:26,720
And we've all been there with 
those accusations. 

245
00:17:28,119 --> 00:17:32,120
God, if you're so good, why is 
life so terrible right now? 

246
00:17:33,080 --> 00:17:35,560
Don't you care about the 
assault? 

247
00:17:36,080 --> 00:17:38,520
Don't you care about the 
environment? 

248
00:17:38,720 --> 00:17:42,520
Don't you care about my kid? 
Don't you care about this 

249
00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:45,600
injustice? 
You're not fixing it enough. 

250
00:17:45,760 --> 00:17:50,560
We're perishing. 
I was pondering this week about 

251
00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:53,640
man, what's the difference 
between don't you care that 

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00:17:53,640 --> 00:17:58,640
we're perishing from the 
disciples and my God, my God, 

253
00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:01,240
why have you forsaken me from 
the psalmist? 

254
00:18:02,280 --> 00:18:05,640
Like, what's the difference 
between the Psalms of lament and

255
00:18:05,640 --> 00:18:10,280
what the disciples were doing? 
And on the surface, it's really 

256
00:18:10,280 --> 00:18:12,120
subtle. 
It's almost like you can't tell 

257
00:18:12,120 --> 00:18:14,720
the difference between the two. 
I think the difference really is

258
00:18:14,720 --> 00:18:18,720
under the surface, you know, how
much trust is there? 

259
00:18:19,200 --> 00:18:22,280
Is there, is there an, is there 
a wellspring of trust coming up 

260
00:18:22,280 --> 00:18:25,920
in the prayer? 
Because when there's no trust 

261
00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:29,200
and we're suffering, I think 
that's where the blame comes in.

262
00:18:29,640 --> 00:18:31,880
We, it's just feels good to 
blame God. 

263
00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:33,480
It feels good to blame someone 
else. 

264
00:18:33,480 --> 00:18:35,160
It feels good to blame 
ourselves. 

265
00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:42,240
But if we can trust, we'll stop 
lashing out. 

266
00:18:42,240 --> 00:18:45,320
We'll start lamenting. 
And I think that's the 

267
00:18:45,320 --> 00:18:46,880
difference. 
I think the disciples are 

268
00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:51,520
lashing out and I think the 
psalmists, the prayers of faith,

269
00:18:52,240 --> 00:18:55,240
are prayers of lament. 
We're just going, this is 

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00:18:55,240 --> 00:18:58,920
terrible, I'm suffering, People 
I love are suffering. 

271
00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:01,280
Things aren't good, but I trust 
you. 

272
00:19:01,440 --> 00:19:03,040
I trust you. 
And that's where all these 

273
00:19:03,040 --> 00:19:07,040
psalms of lament eventually go 
to that these prayers of lament 

274
00:19:07,040 --> 00:19:09,840
really are. 
They're honest and they're raw 

275
00:19:10,160 --> 00:19:13,120
and they're trusting. 
And that's how Jesus went to the

276
00:19:13,120 --> 00:19:15,560
cross and that's how Jesus went 
to the Father. 

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00:19:15,560 --> 00:19:17,720
It was trusting. 
He was able to nap on the boat 

278
00:19:17,840 --> 00:19:21,720
and he was able to lament on the
cross, Showing us as the collect

279
00:19:21,720 --> 00:19:25,680
for the day, show that godly way
of living, that godly way of 

280
00:19:25,680 --> 00:19:30,080
trusting, that confidence, 
confidence that he cares, 

281
00:19:30,080 --> 00:19:34,120
confidence that he's competent, 
confident that he's close at 

282
00:19:34,120 --> 00:19:41,880
hand. 
My aircraft, that was the moment

283
00:19:42,720 --> 00:19:46,600
when the captain takes over and 
the outcomes are in his hands, 

284
00:19:46,720 --> 00:19:49,960
not in the passengers hands. 
We can almost hear Jesus 

285
00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:56,440
uttering my aircraft in verse 39
where we see that the Savior is 

286
00:19:56,440 --> 00:20:00,560
Lord over the storm. 
The Savior is Lord over the 

287
00:20:00,560 --> 00:20:04,080
storm. 
Verse 39 of Mark 4 says, And he 

288
00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:09,480
awoke and rebuked the wind and 
said to the sea, peace be still.

289
00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:14,160
These are two Greek words. 
Peace be still, be quiet. 

290
00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:19,600
Hush. 
And the wind ceased, and there 

291
00:20:19,600 --> 00:20:22,840
was a great calm. 
They'd heard him teach and 

292
00:20:22,840 --> 00:20:27,560
they'd heard him preach, and 
they'd seen him heal, Heal, and 

293
00:20:27,560 --> 00:20:30,400
they've seen him cast out 
demons, but they'd never seen 

294
00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:35,320
this. 
Surely they've heard about the 

295
00:20:35,320 --> 00:20:40,480
ancient power of Yahweh parting 
the waters and delivering his 

296
00:20:40,480 --> 00:20:43,080
people through the storm, but 
they had never seen it with 

297
00:20:43,080 --> 00:20:48,040
their mortal eyes. 
Wind not just easing slowly in 

298
00:20:48,040 --> 00:20:52,280
the by and by, but evaporating 
in a moment. 

299
00:20:53,040 --> 00:20:58,000
Waves not just sort of like 
eventually dying down, but going

300
00:20:58,000 --> 00:21:03,120
flat as a pancake in an instant.
One moment. 

301
00:21:03,120 --> 00:21:09,560
Nature is like this wild beast, 
chaotic, deadly the next minute,

302
00:21:10,160 --> 00:21:17,200
snapping to attention like a 
trained soldier obeying A lordly

303
00:21:17,240 --> 00:21:22,760
voice with a lordly look in his 
eye, speaking commands into 

304
00:21:22,760 --> 00:21:29,840
creation like a war general 
speaking 2 words into the 

305
00:21:29,840 --> 00:21:34,400
hurricane. 
Instant calm, instant peace. 

306
00:21:35,200 --> 00:21:39,440
A holy hush. 
Now maybe there's a moment or 

307
00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:42,880
two that passes in the holy 
hush. 

308
00:21:44,160 --> 00:21:51,160
Everyone catches their breath, 
looks around, looks at Jesus, 

309
00:21:52,800 --> 00:21:55,600
and he turns to them and asks 
verse 40. 

310
00:21:56,120 --> 00:22:00,880
Why are you so afraid? 
Have you still no faith? 

311
00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:11,320
Poignant questions. 
It's a humbling thing for what's

312
00:22:11,320 --> 00:22:16,840
inside to come out in the 
presence of Christ, who sees all

313
00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:22,200
and knows all. 
And now they see it. 

314
00:22:23,240 --> 00:22:28,520
They feared the storm way too 
much, and they feared Jesus not 

315
00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:32,600
enough. 
And truth be told, it took a 

316
00:22:32,600 --> 00:22:38,640
storm for them to see it. 
Jack Miller was a Presbyterian 

317
00:22:38,640 --> 00:22:44,840
pastor and missionary author. 
He mentored many well known 

318
00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:48,720
Christian leaders like Tim 
Keller and Johnny Erickson Tata 

319
00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:50,920
and many others. 
His son Paul Miller wrote the 

320
00:22:50,920 --> 00:22:52,680
book of Praying, Life of Praying
Church. 

321
00:22:54,560 --> 00:22:58,720
Really talented guy, 15 years 
into his ministry, kind of had 

322
00:22:58,720 --> 00:23:04,400
to come to the end of himself. 
And then he began to see that it

323
00:23:04,400 --> 00:23:09,400
was in his own helplessness that
God's power really began to work

324
00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:13,480
through his ministry. 
At one point while serving in 

325
00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:17,480
Uganda, he actually was caught 
in a storm while on a boat in 

326
00:23:17,480 --> 00:23:21,800
Lake Victoria. 
And he said this about the 

327
00:23:21,800 --> 00:23:25,960
experience, quote. 
The whole thing seems senseless,

328
00:23:25,960 --> 00:23:29,320
going from bad to worse in the 
blackness and in the rain and 

329
00:23:29,320 --> 00:23:32,920
the utter misery of the cold. 
My last comfort was the sound of

330
00:23:32,920 --> 00:23:36,320
the outboard motor. 
I asked God to keep it going and

331
00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:39,040
hardly asked for it when off it 
went. 

332
00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:45,040
We were adrift, powerless, 
directionless, exposed to 

333
00:23:45,040 --> 00:23:47,080
pirates who prowl the seas of 
the lake. 

334
00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:52,640
There was just God seemingly 
battering us, and there was a 

335
00:23:52,640 --> 00:23:57,320
kind of message in it. 
It was simply that God was still

336
00:23:57,320 --> 00:24:01,200
a God of infinite love and 
compassion, and I had to see 

337
00:24:01,320 --> 00:24:04,120
that I was not in any way in the
same league with Him. 

338
00:24:05,320 --> 00:24:09,160
Only as I submitted my proud 
heart to his bigness and majesty

339
00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:15,720
and will could I really 
experience his love for the 

340
00:24:15,720 --> 00:24:19,600
disciples, for Jack Miller, for 
us. 

341
00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:24,400
I think there's this beautiful, 
fitting humility that comes 

342
00:24:24,400 --> 00:24:29,320
through a crisis where we see 
Jesus as Lord, and I am not. 

343
00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:36,360
I am not the captain of this 
crisis and I think this humility

344
00:24:36,360 --> 00:24:41,280
opens us up to awe and wonder 
that the Lord has always wanted 

345
00:24:41,280 --> 00:24:46,720
us to be ready for. 
In verse 41, we see this storm 

346
00:24:46,720 --> 00:24:52,960
tossed disciples get to stand in
awe and wonder at the Lord of 

347
00:24:52,960 --> 00:24:56,560
the storm. 
Storm tossed disciples are the 

348
00:24:56,560 --> 00:25:04,000
ones that get the privilege of 
standing in awe and wonder and 

349
00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:05,720
worship at the Lord of the 
storm. 

350
00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:10,320
Verse 41 says they were filled 
with great fear and said to one 

351
00:25:10,320 --> 00:25:15,240
another, Who then is this, that 
even the wind and the sea obey 

352
00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:19,600
him? 
Who then is this man? 

353
00:25:21,720 --> 00:25:25,040
That is the central question of 
the Gospel of Mark. 

354
00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:29,160
The readers of this gospel 
already know the answer from 

355
00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:34,600
Mark, one verse one, Jesus 
Christ, Jesus Messiah, the Son 

356
00:25:34,600 --> 00:25:36,800
of God. 
Readers know it. 

357
00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:41,920
The disciples don't yet know it.
It's slowly dawning on them, 

358
00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:46,160
crisis by crisis, whom exactly 
they are following around. 

359
00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:50,720
And here we've seen they they 
have made this critical leap 

360
00:25:50,920 --> 00:25:57,600
forward together because their 
fear of Jesus has now become a 

361
00:25:57,600 --> 00:26:00,880
little bit greater than their 
fear of the storm. 

362
00:26:01,560 --> 00:26:05,000
They've witnessed a power that 
they hadn't witnessed before, 

363
00:26:06,760 --> 00:26:08,680
and it left them in awe and 
wonder. 

364
00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:13,080
And they have seen, like Jack 
Miller saw, that they are not 

365
00:26:13,120 --> 00:26:16,360
any way in the same league with 
Jesus. 

366
00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:21,640
And now they know him as Lord 
over the storm. 

367
00:26:22,920 --> 00:26:27,160
And the thing about tests from 
God is that if we fail them the 

368
00:26:27,160 --> 00:26:29,720
first time, we get to take them 
again. 

369
00:26:31,040 --> 00:26:34,040
And you could say that they 
failed this test. 

370
00:26:34,360 --> 00:26:37,120
You could say that they're being
developed by this test, maybe 

371
00:26:37,120 --> 00:26:39,160
both. 
But it's going to, they're going

372
00:26:39,160 --> 00:26:41,240
to have other storms, other 
tests. 

373
00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:45,520
They're going to see that Jesus 
is Lord not only over a Sea of 

374
00:26:45,520 --> 00:26:52,200
Galilee mini hurricane, but also
5000 hungry appetites with no 

375
00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:55,640
food supply. 
Jesus is Lord over that 

376
00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:57,840
situation. 
They're going to say that Jesus 

377
00:26:57,840 --> 00:27:03,280
is Lord over the death of his 
own cousin and the death of a 

378
00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:06,640
little girl. 
That Jesus is Lord over the 

379
00:27:06,640 --> 00:27:10,120
chronic illness of a woman with 
12 years of bleeding. 

380
00:27:11,000 --> 00:27:14,680
That Jesus is Lord over 
rejection from his family 

381
00:27:14,680 --> 00:27:19,400
members and friends. 
That Jesus is Lord over false 

382
00:27:19,400 --> 00:27:25,800
accusation and abandonment and 
even his own traumatizing death.

383
00:27:26,240 --> 00:27:30,000
That Jesus is Lord even after 
his ascension over a fledgling 

384
00:27:30,000 --> 00:27:33,240
church that doesn't know what 
it's doing with untrained 

385
00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:35,680
leaders. 
That Jesus is Lord even over 

386
00:27:35,680 --> 00:27:39,120
Peter's imprisonment. 
And I think by that time, Peter 

387
00:27:39,120 --> 00:27:45,200
kind of knew that that like, the
Lord is going to be somehow over

388
00:27:45,200 --> 00:27:51,360
this storm too. 
My aircraft, my crisis. 

389
00:27:53,560 --> 00:27:56,440
That's what Jesus says. 
That's what the Lord says. 

390
00:27:57,840 --> 00:28:01,760
And practical confidence in all 
of these storms going up and up 

391
00:28:01,760 --> 00:28:05,800
and up until they can finally 
worship him as Lord. 

392
00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:13,200
You know, as a result, almost 
all, if not all of the men in 

393
00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:15,240
these boats, you know, what 
eventually happened to them, 

394
00:28:16,400 --> 00:28:22,120
They all went down into the sea,
you could call it of martyrdom 

395
00:28:23,560 --> 00:28:26,480
in different continents, in 
different places, they all went 

396
00:28:26,480 --> 00:28:29,040
out. 
Jesus said go, I'll always be 

397
00:28:29,040 --> 00:28:31,880
with you. 
He gave them the sacraments of 

398
00:28:31,880 --> 00:28:35,320
baptism in the Eucharist. 
He gave them the Gospel. 

399
00:28:35,400 --> 00:28:39,000
He gave them things to teach. 
They would have their own all 

400
00:28:39,000 --> 00:28:41,120
day teaching ministry followed 
by naps. 

401
00:28:41,240 --> 00:28:44,640
But eventually they would all go
down in the storm and they went 

402
00:28:44,640 --> 00:28:48,080
down with confidence. 
They went down with trust. 

403
00:28:48,840 --> 00:28:52,760
Now that's a supernatural trust.
That's a supernatural 

404
00:28:52,960 --> 00:28:55,360
confidence. 
And in fact, the early church, 

405
00:28:56,880 --> 00:28:59,800
when they read this text that we
have today, you know what they 

406
00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:02,120
saw? 
They saw the boat as the church 

407
00:29:02,800 --> 00:29:06,800
storm tossed people freaking 
out, not knowing what to do. 

408
00:29:06,800 --> 00:29:10,600
The Lord over all of the the 
persecution that they 

409
00:29:10,600 --> 00:29:16,240
experienced, the loss, the 
uncertainty, and they prayed for

410
00:29:16,240 --> 00:29:18,520
faith and they prayed for 
confidence, and the Lord gave it

411
00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:22,640
to them. 
I wonder if we might apply that 

412
00:29:22,640 --> 00:29:27,280
ancient Christian creed this 
week to our storms. 

413
00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:32,800
Can you imagine doing that? 
Jesus is Lord, not just in 

414
00:29:32,800 --> 00:29:37,800
theory, but over my storm, my 
crisis. 

415
00:29:39,680 --> 00:29:44,960
Jesus is Lord over my stress. 
Jesus is Lord over my marriage 

416
00:29:44,960 --> 00:29:48,400
conflict. 
Jesus is Lord over my property 

417
00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:53,440
taxes. 
Jesus is Lord over my my future 

418
00:29:53,440 --> 00:29:56,520
plans, which feel murky and 
cloudy and I don't know what to 

419
00:29:56,520 --> 00:30:00,360
do with my life. 
Jesus is Lord over my 

420
00:30:00,360 --> 00:30:04,600
loneliness, and he's lowered 
over my sleepless nights and 

421
00:30:04,600 --> 00:30:08,360
over my kids and over my parents
and over the scariest situation 

422
00:30:08,360 --> 00:30:10,040
that I've ever encountered in my
life. 

423
00:30:10,280 --> 00:30:12,920
My aircraft. 
That's what he says. 

424
00:30:13,960 --> 00:30:18,160
That's what he intends. 
He's LED us into a storm. 

425
00:30:18,160 --> 00:30:20,080
We don't know why, we don't know
why. 

426
00:30:20,560 --> 00:30:21,280
Why Lord? 
You? 

427
00:30:21,280 --> 00:30:22,840
Really. 
It's almost an unhelpful 

428
00:30:22,840 --> 00:30:26,160
question. 
At least we have the answer 

429
00:30:26,160 --> 00:30:30,680
here. 
He wants to reveal himself. 

430
00:30:32,600 --> 00:30:36,840
The waves are like mountains. 
Our boats are about yay high. 

431
00:30:38,240 --> 00:30:41,240
And as we declare Lord, you're 
Lord over those waves. 

432
00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:45,200
You're Lord over the storm. 
He's the Lord over the storm on 

433
00:30:45,200 --> 00:30:48,160
the inside too. 
So we say, Lord Jesus, I'm in 

434
00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:52,520
pain, I'm anxious, I feel angry,
and I'm just giving this to you.

435
00:30:52,720 --> 00:30:54,560
And I don't have the confidence 
I need. 

436
00:30:54,560 --> 00:30:56,160
I need you to give me that 
confidence. 

437
00:30:56,160 --> 00:30:59,280
I give you the heaviness. 
Lord of this situation, please 

438
00:30:59,280 --> 00:31:02,400
carry this for me. 
And that's when he does the 

439
00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:04,240
greatest miracle of all, 
friends. 

440
00:31:05,560 --> 00:31:10,280
He grows our faith. 
Hurricanes are going to go away.

441
00:31:10,280 --> 00:31:12,520
This world's going to pass away.
You know what's going to last 

442
00:31:12,520 --> 00:31:14,920
forever? 
It's the people of God who have 

443
00:31:14,920 --> 00:31:18,120
developed a confidence in Jesus 
Christ as the Lord who are able 

444
00:31:18,120 --> 00:31:21,880
to trust him in suffering that's
going to last forever. 

445
00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:29,440
I was reading this week some 
some of the prayers written, 

446
00:31:29,440 --> 00:31:33,720
some of the reflections written 
by a man who started the Apple 

447
00:31:33,720 --> 00:31:38,760
Daily newspaper in Hong Kong. 
He was a a committed Christian. 

448
00:31:40,000 --> 00:31:46,200
He's now in prison in China 
because of how faithfully he 

449
00:31:46,200 --> 00:31:49,400
spoke the truth. 
And now he's in prison. 

450
00:31:49,400 --> 00:31:52,120
And his reflections are some of 
the most beautiful, faith 

451
00:31:52,120 --> 00:31:55,600
filled, peace filled reflections
I've read all week. 

452
00:31:58,400 --> 00:32:01,440
Because they speak about a 
confidence that even even if the

453
00:32:01,440 --> 00:32:05,120
storm never abates until the end
of his life, he is at peace 

454
00:32:05,120 --> 00:32:07,920
knowing that the Lord is near, 
that the Lord cares and that the

455
00:32:07,920 --> 00:32:11,080
Lord is going to fix it. 
He's going to make good of it. 

456
00:32:11,520 --> 00:32:15,200
And there's this trust and it's 
beautiful. 

457
00:32:17,040 --> 00:32:18,800
And the Lord wants that for us 
too. 

458
00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:26,160
He wants us walking in a 
confidence that we didn't have 

459
00:32:26,160 --> 00:32:31,680
before, even lamenting to him 
instead of lashing out at him 

460
00:32:33,000 --> 00:32:36,760
and really finding ourselves in 
awe and wonder, saying who is 

461
00:32:36,760 --> 00:32:39,960
this man? 
Finding ourselves in awe and 

462
00:32:39,960 --> 00:32:43,280
wonder, not at the size of the 
storm, but the might of the 

463
00:32:43,280 --> 00:32:49,600
captain. 
Friends, He is the Lord over the

464
00:32:49,600 --> 00:32:55,800
storm, over the calm. 
And though He is a Lord of 

465
00:32:55,800 --> 00:33:01,560
infinite love and compassion, we
are not in any way in the same 

466
00:33:01,880 --> 00:33:06,440
league with Him. 
So may blessing and glory and 

467
00:33:06,440 --> 00:33:12,320
wisdom and Thanksgiving and 
honor and power, and might be to

468
00:33:12,360 --> 00:33:17,680
our God and his Christ forever 
and ever. 

469
00:33:18,720 --> 00:33:19,160
Amen.