11.08.15 — Overcoming the Storms of Life

Today I want to speak to you about overcoming the storms of life. You overcome the storms of life by Obeying, Trusting and Worshiping God. This is the only way to come out victorious on the other side of the challenges of life.

We will be learning about the story made famous by Jesus walking on water, or better yet Peter walking on water. The story is actually found in three of the gospels (Matthew 14:22-36;John 6:16-24

Mark 6:45-52), but our focus will be in Matthew 14, please open you Bible there.

I have a Confession…

This past week a couple of my friends were traveling in Jerusalem… I’m so jealous! They were walking where Jesus walked and posting it on Facebook…

It’s my life’s dream to travel to Jerusalem and walk where Jesus walked.

It must have been awesome to walk where Jesus walked…

But here is a greater thought… I think it must have been awesome to walk with Jesus during his earthly ministry… imagine that… to

hear his messages, to see him healing, to be with him.

However, I think we romanticize the idea of walking with Jesus in his earthly ministry to the point idealistic perfection.

Today’s story exemplifies for us, that while Jesus chose and walked with the twelve, it was not for a picnic.

Jesus chose them to prepare them to undertake the greatest endeavor in human history, the establishing of the Church of Jesus Christ.

And so, for the disciples, as they walked with Jesus… everything was a lesson, everything was preparation for ministry…. Every story, every soothing, every scrap, every scuffle, every skirmish, every struggle…

The spoiled child is the one who expects his parents to get him out everything in life. Jesus certainly did not teach this to his disciples.

The most important thing that happens is what happens in me not the situation.

God is more interested in changing character than changing circumstances.

If the child does nothing. The child never grows.

God doesn’t raise spoiled children. God is expecting you to grow and mature.

Ephesians 4:14, “Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of

teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their

deceitful scheming.”

An average view of the Christian life today is that it means deliverance from trouble. But the truth is that Christian life is lesson in trouble and deliverance in trouble, which is very different.

If you are a child of God, there certainly will be troubles to meet, but Jesus says do not be surprised when they come.

John 16:33, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

In today’s passage

In today’s passage we are going to learn about Jesus’ lesson on overcoming storms.

The idea is that as disciples of Jesus, we have to be a people of deep conviction and solid faith regardless of the situation.

And, Storms have a way of revealing our core, our character… Storms reveal your true substance…. You true level of maturity… who we really are….

Proverbs 24:10 says, “If you fall to pieces in a crisis, there wasn’t

much to you in the first place.”

I wish there was a pill I could give everyone that could make all your problems go away, or all the pain to disappear but I cant do that, it doesn’t exist.

Every one of us will go through storms, with different measure of intensity and there will be great immaturity or great maturity that will be exposed.

Every storm has a lesson and today’s storm is not different. Let’s learn how to overcome the storms of life.

Steve Pinto

Associate Pastor

Faro Church

Listen to sermon, please click here.