Navigating Storms | Pastor David Frech | We Believe | Full Service

Good morning, church. My name's Naya, and I'm so glad that you're in the house today. I just want to ask all of you to stand, and we're going to read the word. If it's your first time here, I want to encourage you to use the tap disc that's on the back of each chair, or to stop at the connect table on your way out of service. We would love to connect with you. We want to get you plugged in. I'm going to start by reading Psalm 136, 1 through 3. It says, Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the God of gods, for his steadfast love endures forever. Give thanks to the Lord of lords, for his steadfast love endures forever. Who's thankful for the love of God that just endures, that is everlasting and never changes and never ends. So as we go into this service, I just want our hearts to be filled with thanksgiving for Christ and his love. Let's go in prayer. Thank you, Jesus, so much for this day, God, that you have made, Lord. I just pray that all the hearts in this room are open and ready to receive you, Jesus. I thank you for what you're doing here today, God. I pray that we just receive your word today, Lord, and that you receive our praise. In your name we pray, amen. Stay standing as we worship together. No, I am not ashamed to praise like this. Some say it's foolishness, but I say it's worth the risk. I can't forget where Jesus died. No, I am not ashamed to praise like this. Where are those chains that once held me? I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. My sin is gone, how can it be?

I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. Look at what the Lord has done. I'm never going back to the way I was. I'll sing, I'll dance, kings, I'll be. I'm free, I'm free. Thank God I'm free. Woo! I've got a friend that never quits. No other love is good as this. And I don't care what anyone says. I'll never be ashamed to praise like this. Where are those chains that once held me? I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. My sin is gone, how can it be? I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. Look at what the Lord has done. I'm never going back to the way I was. I'll sing, I'll dance, kings, I'll be. I'm free, I'm free. Thank God I'm free. You took the cross and you broke your body. You shed your blood, now the sinner can't sing. My debt is paid and my record is clean. I couldn't do it, so you did it for me. You took the cross and you broke your body. You shed your blood, now the sinner can't sing. My debt is paid and my record is clean. I couldn't do it, so you did it for me. You took the cross. You took the cross and you broke your body.

You shed your blood, now the sinner can't sing. My debt is paid and my record is clean. I couldn't do it, so you did it for me. Only God can do it, so you did it for me. Only God can do it. Holy God can do it. Holy God can do it. Holy God can do it. Come on, sing it. Where are those chains that once held me? I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. My sin is gone, how can it be? I'm free, I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. Look at what the Lord has done. I'm never going back to the way I was. I'll sing, I'll dance, cause I believe. I'm free, I'm free, I'm free. You took the cross and you broke your body. You shed your blood, now the sinner can't see. My debt is paid and my record is clean. I couldn't do it, so you did it. You took the cross and you broke your body. You shed your blood, now the sinner can't see. My debt is paid and my record is clean. I couldn't do it, so you did it. You took the cross and you broke your body. You shed your blood, now the sinner can't see. My debt is paid and my record is clean. I couldn't do it, so you did it. You took the cross and you broke your body. You shed your blood, now the sinner can't see. Look at what the Lord has done. I'm never going back to the way I was. I'm never going back to the way I was. I remember how you provided, how you held me through the night. And I remember how you sustained me when you stepped in to save my life. If I knew then what I know now, I would be still and let you work it out. Jesus, I was tossed in the water, but I never went under. You were always on time. Jesus, when I went through the fire, you were right there beside me. You were always on time. You were always, always, always on time. You were always, always, always on time. I remember how you carried when I couldn't take a step. And I remember how you loved me when I couldn't love myself.

Jesus, I was tossed in the water, but I never went under. You were always on time. Jesus, when I went through the fire, you were right there beside me. You were always on time. You were always, always, always on time. ♪ You were always, always, always on time ♪ Sing it out. ♪ You were always, always, always on time ♪ Yes, you are. ♪ You were always, always, always on time ♪ ♪ You're such a faithful God, how we love you ♪ ♪ You're such a faithful God, how we love you ♪ ♪ There's never been a day, never been a minute ♪ ♪ Never been a moment that you weren't in it ♪ ♪ There's never been a time that you didn't see me through God ♪ ♪ So I worship you ♪ ♪ There's never been a day, never been a minute ♪ ♪ Never been a moment that you weren't in it ♪ ♪ You didn't see me through God, so I worship you ♪ ♪ There's never been a day, never been a minute ♪ ♪ Never been a moment that you weren't in it ♪ ♪ There's never been a time that you didn't see me through God ♪ ♪ So I worship you ♪ ♪ There's never been a day, never been a minute ♪ ♪ Never been a moment that you weren't in it ♪ ♪ There's never been a time that you didn't see me through God ♪ ♪ I worship you, oh Jesus ♪ ♪ I was lost in the water, but I never went under ♪ ♪ You were always on time, Jesus ♪ ♪ When I went through the fire, you were right there beside me ♪

♪ You were always on time ♪ ♪ You were always, always, always on time, yes you were ♪ ♪ You were always, always, always on time ♪ ♪ You were always, always, always on time, yes you were ♪ ♪ You were always, always, always on time, yes you were ♪ ♪ There's never been a day, never been a minute ♪ ♪ Never been a moment that you weren't in it ♪ ♪ There's never been a time that you didn't see me through God ♪ ♪ I worship you ♪ ♪ There's never been a day, never been a minute ♪ ♪ Never been a moment that you weren't in it ♪ ♪ There's never been a time that you didn't see me through God so ♪ ♪ I worship you ♪ ♪ Oh, we worship you God ♪ ♪ Jesus, Jesus, I was tossed in the water ♪ ♪ But I never would know that you were always on time ♪ ♪ Jesus, when I went through the fire, you were right there beside me ♪ ♪ You were always on time ♪ Come on, let's go, can we just lift our hands and surrender? Holy Spirit, have your way in this place God, we worship you We give our praise and our all glory to you, God God, take all that we are We glorify the name of Jesus We sing, holy, holy, holy Is the Lord God Almighty who was and is and is to come We worship you, Lord Come on church, let's sing ♪ And all the saints and angels, they bow before your throne ♪ ♪ And all the elders cast their crowns before the Lamb of God and sing ♪

♪ You're worthy of it all, you're worthy of it all, yes you are ♪ For from You are all things, to You are all things, You deserve the glory We sing with all the saints and angels And all the saints and angels Now before Your throne And all the elders of us They're counting for the Lord Oh God we sing You are worthy of it all You are worthy of it all For from You are all things, to You are all things, You deserve the glory You are worthy of it all You are worthy of it all For from You are all things, to You are all things, You deserve the glory Oh Come on in the presence of God, in the presence of the saints Let's continue to celebrate and worship As we watch someone go into the waters of baptism, going public with their faith Hello, my name is London Before my relationship with God, I had personal struggles with myself and my family Growing up with divorced parents was hard for me I struggled with seeking attention from the wrong sources I even struggled with forgiving a cousin that wronged me Through all of that, I gained social anxiety and insecurity about myself One day I met someone that inspired me to change for the better This person showed me the right things and how God is good Every time I went to church, I felt at home And because of this, I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ By surrendering my life to Jesus, our Lord and Savior, I've learned how to find peace, forgiveness, and to surrender control

Following Him and His will for my life has led me to finding the right people I need in my life I now freely sing, cry in freedom, and most importantly, seek God I feel Him closer to me, more than ever before Today I'm going public with my faith London, Jesus said every disciple should be baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit And because of your confession of faith today, I baptize you In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins And according to Scripture, you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit One day I met someone that inspired me to change for the better This person showed me the right things and how God is good Every time I went to church, I felt at home And because of this, I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ By surrendering my life to Jesus, our Lord and Savior, I've learned how to find peace, forgiveness, and to surrender control Following Him and His will for my life has led me to finding the right people I need in my life I now freely sing, cry in freedom, and most importantly seek God And because of your confession of faith today, I baptize you In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ for the remission of your sins You reigns of the Lord You reigns of the Lord For forever Come on, lift up a shout of praise, hallelujah, we sing hallelujah, the highest praise to the King of glory. What an amazing, amazing experience in God's house, amen. Before we prepare for the message, just take this time to find someone, greet someone you've never met, tell them that you're thankful that you're in the house today and we'll prepare for the message. All right, yeah. Well, good morning. It's so good to be in the house of the Lord. Thank you for joining with us here at Church for the City, where we'll teach the word and encounter the presence of God and spread the gospel of the Lord,

Jesus Christ. How many of you happy to be in God's house this morning? Yeah, it's good. It's so good. Well, thank you. I want to just let you know, we've been doing prayer, open prayer on Tuesday mornings from 9.30 to 10.30, which that will continue. We are certainly enjoying just having so many of you that's coming out to join with the staff to pray. However, this Tuesday, we will not have prayer because we start our Minister's Fellowship International, MFIR, conference. Once a year, we bring in the pastors that we have investment in, some sort of oversight, pastors that we're either training or working with or partner with in fellowship. These pastors come from different parts of the country, some from different parts of the world, actually, as we had our pastors from South Africa are here. So because we start meetings tomorrow, there'll be about 180 that will be gathered with us. We'll be doing meetings Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, on into Thursday. So we won't do prayer this Tuesday. On that note, we usually do first Wednesday on what Wednesday of the month? First. That was for you, Jermaine. I just thought I'd catch you off guard. But we're going to do first Wednesday on second Wednesday, which is this Wednesday because of our guests that are here. Pastor Doug Lassett will be preaching. So if you come the first Wednesday, which we encourage you to, the place is usually full on that, you are going to be blessed this Wednesday night to join us for first Wednesday, this Wednesday, this Wednesday night. Ryan is not here. I'm sure he's here somewhere, but he gave a great message last Sunday, tremendous message. And there was 27 new people that signed up for life groups after that message. So I celebrate that and grateful for the message and grateful for you in receiving. Now, every time you come into the building, there's an opportunity for generosity. There's the boxes. Also on the screen are the ways to give. This, I want to say the last couple of weeks, our We Love Our City team has been doing some things with the women's shelter and safe house, which I'm grateful that we have that. You're going to see some pictures, I believe. There's been bikes donated,

bunk beds, dining table, just helping several families that are in the midst of transition because of unfortunate situations. But again, it's your generosity that allows us to partner with people in our community that need people to come alongside them, no better people to come alongside them than people that love them, love Jesus, and can help them from one position of life to another. So I want to thank you. And I want you to thank each other for just helping and loving and shaping our community. So thank you for that. Now, I'm gonna pray before we invite our guests. Couple of things I want to know. I had some folks in first service kind of harassing me at the door because they say, oh, you're actually here this Sunday. You know, so just so you know, whenever I'm not here, I'm not off. I'm preaching somewhere. This will actually be my first Sunday off this year, or at least was intentional. Now, starting next week, I'm preaching nine weeks in a row. So I don't want to hear nobody questioning me and hear this, I don't want nobody missing because I'll ask you, oh, you showing up this week? So, but in saying that, last Sunday was the first time in my 33 years of ministry where I was scheduled to be somewhere to preach and could not get there. The flights was so jacked up that I never made it to Pastor Freck's church to preach in Kansas City last Sunday.

1130 at night, I'm crying like a baby on the phone. I can't believe this is happening, huh? Yes, I was crying like a baby because I couldn't make it. Now, the good news, I guess, is I still had to preach there Monday and Tuesday. So when I got there on Monday, people were saying, hey, we missed you. But if we can just tell you, everything went great without you. 20 people got saved without you even showing up. So thank God, thank God for the work of the presence and the spirit of God, but you're gonna be blessed by the word this morning. Let's pray. Well, Father, I do wanna thank you for this opportunity to be in your house and to certainly be with your people where we can sing worship songs, where we can hear the word, where we can celebrate Jesus. It's amazing, Lord, that when we come together, you promised us that you would be present with us, and we're certainly experiencing that in the house in all three services today. So thank you, Lord, for being with us. Lord, I do pray for every church in our county. There'll be churches gathering right now, even as we're gathering. My desire is for every church in this county to grow, for every pastor, Lord God, to be healthy,

for their teams, Lord God, to support them in the work of the ministry. So we pray for these churches, Lord, as we meet with a lot of these local pastors this week, we're praying that you will help us to invest in them, impart in them, to inspire them, encourage them, prepare them to be better. And Lord, even for our guests that are coming in from other parts of the country, we pray, Lord God, that this will be a great place for them to hear more about how God has called them and equipped them to do what you have called them to do. Lord, I also want to pray for the conflict in Iran and with Israel and the U.S. Pray for restraint in the Middle East in the sense that lives would be preserved, innocent people would be protected, just a supernatural protection over civilians and families and communities in the region. Lord, I do pray for the freedom of the Iranian people with the fall of the Iranian regime. I pray for protection and success for the U.S. and Israeli military men and women. And Lord, I guess even above all that, Lord, that there's an open door for the gospel throughout the region, particularly, Lord, through the Iranian underground church that's been under oppression and persecution for 50 years. May there be more opportunities for people to hear about the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ

and come to a saving place with him. Father, we do thank you, and we just appreciate so much your son, Jesus, who's died for our sins, that we may have eternal life. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Now, I want to introduce you. Now, listen, third service, I need to tell you, church has been great. As far as Pastor David knows, you are the best congregation of the three. That's right. We're going to need that. He's a preacher that likes hallelujahs. He likes amens. So please, make me not be a liar. You are the most hallelujah, amen congregation that we got. Amen. And so, Pastor David Frank also serves with me on the apostolic leadership team for MFI. He oversees all the churches in the Midwest region. Great friend, great preacher, also a pilot, also a three-time jiu-jitsu world champion. So he's one preacher that I've never argued with because I don't know how that's going to go. But he's a man of God and you're going to be blessed. Can you stand on your feet to receive Pastor David Fray? Come on, let's give it up for Jesus. Awesome, what a great church. So honored, Pastor Tyrone, Virginia. What incredible hospitality and what an amazing church. Great team, great ministry, a sense of the presence of God in every service. I might just be a little bit more in this one, I don't know.

We'll see how it goes. I bring you greetings from Kansas City, the home of the Chiefs. I just said that because Pastor Tyrone needs deliverance from the Raiders. Amen, but so honored to be in this house and honored by your great pastor. What a great leader, great man he is. And I'm so honored to be serving with him on the leadership team of MFI. And it's just great to be in the house today. Great to be in the house. I won't keep you more than a couple hours. And some of you don't know how to take me yet. And I get that, I get that. But I believe the Lord's given me a word for this church. And I'm gonna do my very best to get all the way through it because I haven't been able to in the first two. But I'm not gonna take your time, I'm gonna manage this well. I'm asking the Lord for grace for that. But I wanna say to you that I believe the word for this house is navigate your storm. Navigate your storm. Now there's only one option for a believer when it comes to the storms of life. You know what that option is? Through. It's the only way. You can stop, but it'll kill you. You can go back, but you're just gonna prolong it. You have to go through. Too many people are overwhelmed by the circumstance of life because they haven't learned the principles of getting through. I thank God for deliverance. I thank God for salvation. I thank God for redemption.

I thank God for those miracle moments where he pulls us out of the fire. But the majority of our Christian life is really revealed in the through. So I want you to start with me and grab your Bibles briefly if you would with me. Isaiah 43, we're gonna make this our launching pad verse for this morning. Isaiah 43 starting in verse 1. Let's read it together. But now thus says the Lord. He who created you, O Jacob. He who formed you, O Israel. Fear not. I have redeemed you. I have called you by name. You are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you. And through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you. When you walk, help me now, through the fire, you shall not be burned. And the flame shall not consume you. For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior. I give Egypt as your ransom cushion. As your ransom cushion, Sheba, in exchange for you. Father, we surrender to your word today. I pray for clarity, succinctness. Lord, that you will penetrate our hearts. Give us revelation of how you reveal yourself in the midst of the storm. Lord, how you are the anchor in our storm. How you are the strength of us. Lord God, I pray today that those that are in the storms of life that seem overwhelmed, that they will find victory. They will find freedom. They will find clarity.

They will find purpose. I pray today, Lord, those that maybe have never made a decision for you, they will find you in the midst of the chaos that is their storm. And Lord, we thank you for anointing me as your servant. Anointing every ear to hear what you are speaking to our soul. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. God bless you. You can be seated. So if you're going to navigate storms, here's what I need... First, I guess I should ask the question, has anybody here ever been in a life storm? Nobody, oh, thank God, there's a couple of you. The rest of you, just pay attention, because you'll need this eventually. Storms are an absolute of life. Because you are a believer does not mean you will not experience storms. Because you know Jesus does not mean that you will somehow be exempt from the struggles of life, from the situations that are overwhelming in life, because you're a believer does not mean that all of a sudden you've got this protective globe around you where nothing of the earth will ever touch you. That's not true, that's not what the Bible says. In fact, Jesus affirmed the very opposite. He said, in this world, you will have trouble. Three of you believe the word of God, come on. In this world, you will have trouble,

but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. So the key is how do I navigate storms the way Jesus would want me to navigate storms? What are the lessons I need to learn, and how do I need to understand the strategy to come to the place that Jesus' purpose and glory is revealed, even in the most chaotic moments of my life? I think one of the real problems with modern day Christianity is we've lost our understanding of the purpose and glory of God in the midst of everything. We are seasonally connective. When everything's going great, we can't jump any higher, we can't sing any louder, we can't wave our hands anymore. But when things get difficult, oh no, where's God? How could he have done this to me? He's abandoned me, he's left me. Where are you, Lord? Now, we've all experienced that at some level or another. But the difference is is how do we do it well? So I wanna give you lessons in storm walking. Look at your neighbor and say, let's do some storm walking. Now, if you know the story of Matthew chapter 14, it starts with the incredible miracle of the loaves and the fishes. Now, it is a miracle that is so significant that it actually pulls over into the miracle of Peter walking on the water, that the disciples didn't understand that miracle, and because of that, they didn't know how to relate

to Jesus in the middle of their storm. Now, I'm kind of moving forward, but what I want you to hear today is that as they are experiencing this incredible miracle where over 5,000 men, not counting the women and children, so it would not be an exaggeration to say that somewhere between 15 and maybe even 20 to 25,000 people were fed by a single boy's lunch sack that day. So they were a part. They participated in this incredible miracle where Jesus took the bread and took the fish and he broke them and he blessed them and he put them in 12 baskets. Then he asked the disciples to go to the various groups that were sitting in 50s and 100s and asked them to reach into the basket where Jesus just put a single piece of bread and a single piece of fish and they were reaching in and they were pulling out whole fish and they were pulling out whole loaves and thousands were fed. Come on, how many, when I get to heaven, I'm pushing the DVR button. I wanna see that one. They pull it out and they ate so everybody's fulfilled and then they collected 12 baskets full of the remaining fish and loaves. Then when this day is over and the evening is coming upon them, Jesus takes his disciples down to the shore

of the Sea of Galilee, puts them in a boat and he says, I want you to go to the other side and I'll meet you there. I'm gonna go dismiss the crowd and then I'm going to go up in the mountain and pray. And so that's exactly what Jesus did. He went, dismissed the rest of the crowd and then he went apart on a mountain to pray. Then the Bible picks up the story and says, it was at that moment that his disciples now in the middle of the sea were in the midst of a storm. Now that started as it was coming dusk and the storm was so intense, the storm was so difficult that even the professional boatsmen that were in the boat were not convinced that they would survive it. In fact, they were beginning to wonder if their skills, their expertise and their knowledge was enough to face the storm. You ever been in a storm like that? Where it doesn't compare to the storms you've had in the past. Everything was going great, but now it's not going so good and now everything that I learned seems to not be sufficient for what I'm facing. And it's in this setting that they are learning how to deal with storms. Now the question is, is why do storms come

and how did I end up here? You ever wondered that? How did I get in this storm? Where did this storm come from? Now I'm gonna suggest that when Jesus put those disciples in the boat and he told them to go to the other side, there were enough professionals in the room that when they looked at the horizon and they saw the clouds, they were probably thinking to themselves, this doesn't look real good. I don't think it just cropped up. Now it could've, I don't know. But Jesus sent them, so they are moving through and now they are in, they're in the middle of the storm. They can't go forward, they can't go back, they're stuck. Have you ever been in a situation? It's like, I just like my way out of here. I just don't know where to turn. I don't know where to go. And it's as far to go forward as it is to go backward. I just don't know what to do. And so we enter into survival mode. Now here's what you need to know. You get into storms for various reasons. One of them is they often follow great moments. I believe that there's a strategy of the enemy to deflate what God, what faith and what testimony God has built in your life. And sometimes we get into storms right after a great moment.

That was true for the disciples. They saw this incredible church service, this incredible miracle, plus Jesus healed the sick, plus he raised up people that were lame. He healed blind eyes, he opened deaf ears, he cast out demons because that's what Jesus does. And then they had church that day, right? And now they're living on the high of this incredible miracle and they're in the middle of the greatest storm of their life. And many of us, it's that way. I couldn't have had a better sales day than we had last week, but now we're struggling. We've lost our biggest client or some of us, me and my wife and I have been getting along so good. What just happened? A switch got flipped and now everything is breaking down in our home. What did my kid get up and start eating this morning? They've gone crazy. They were doing so good. They were getting such great grades. They had achieved such great things and now they've lost their minds. Man, I just got a promotion and now they tell me they don't need my division. Anybody know what I'm talking about? Storms often follow great moments and that's okay because they're gonna test us. Another reason why storms happen is because it is a result.

Let's be very honest. The primary reason why these disciples were in this storm was because Jesus put them in the boat and told them to go to the other side. They're in the storm because they're obeying Jesus. Uh-oh, wait a second. You mean following Jesus can actually put me in a storm? 100%, absolutely. You can follow Jesus and things get tougher. I thought when I came to Jesus, the preacher told me my life was gonna change and I was gonna have hope and I was gonna have peace and that is true. But he didn't tell you that you would have circumstantial hope and circumstantial peace. Sometimes things just go wrong because I started serving Jesus and now I've got enemies I didn't have before. Now people don't trust me like they used to because when I caroused and I cheated on my wife and I did all that other stuff, people trusted me more than now that I'm doing it right, living it right and walking it right. Some of you've asked that question. Man, I just doing what God told me to do and it's got harder. I quit doing the stuff that I know discipline is doing and it was easier for me then. Man, I used to have all kinds of money when I didn't tithe. Let's keep moving. It's a result of choice.

Let's be honest, we are in storms because of choice, right? Choices, wrong choices, we all make decisions. Today's the day, now's the time. Choose this day who you're gonna serve. You make a choice. Your faith must align with your choice. Your faith instructs and informs your choice. You've gotta decide, am I gonna do that? Am I not gonna do it? And whatever choices you make, those are the consequences that we experience. Don't be deceived, God ain't mocked. Galatians tells us that whatever we sow, we're gonna reap. It is a reality of life. And here's another reason why storms come. Storms come as a result of circumstance. Now what do I mean by circumstance? Circumstance is essentially the collective of living in a sinful world. Paul said, I've learned in every circumstance to be content. Whether I'm abounding or I'm abased, whether I have plenty or I have nothing, in everything, in every circumstance, I've learned to be what? Content. In other words, I don't let the affairs of a world that is wholly given over to sin and to unrighteousness... Listen, because I'm a believer, because I walk in the light in the midst of darkness, that still means I'm in a dark world. And sickness is still in the world, and evil is still in the world, and unrighteousness is still in the world. And I'm not exempt from experiencing those things. It rains on the just and the unjust.

We are in that world, and so I'm never able to exempt myself from the affairs of life, from the circumstances that surround life. But if I'm going to navigate storms well, I have got to learn to do a few things. It doesn't matter how the storm has come. If you're in a storm because you made a wrong decision, can I give you a little key? Repent. Confess. Reset. Decide to do it God's way, and He'll get you out of the storm. Let me just identify some things. So, let's remember they're in this storm, and it's got them totally overwhelmed. Now, let's remember that this storm starts before dusk, before the sun goes down. And when they get into the middle of the sea, now the darkness has fallen, the storm has fallen. They cannot navigate anymore because there's no stars to navigate by. They can't see anything because they don't have lights. If they have a torch, it's been blown out or it's been washed out. They're in utter and complete darkness. They have no way of navigating. They can see nothing. Listen, I've been a pilot for many years, and I can tell you I get into those IFR conditions. And when you go into the clouds, there is no orientation. You don't know if you're up, you're down, you're left, you're right. You have no clue. Your body's telling you things. And the only thing, the only thing that can tell you what's true isn't what you feel. Your mind can lie to you. Your inner ear can lie to you. But the instruments in front of you have to become the thing you trust. God put an instrument in front of you that no matter what you're feeling, no matter what you're dealing with, no matter what's going on, even if you don't have stars to align to, you've got the Word of God.

And it's an anchor. It's an instrument. It's telling you whether you're straight and level, whether you're falling, whether you're rising, whether you're about to stall or not. Come on, somebody. So they're in the midst of the storm, and it's now, the Bible says, the fourth watch of the night, which is somewhere between 3 and 4 in the morning. And the Bible says that Jesus comes walking to them on the water. Come on, somebody. I got some problems with this. The first is, why'd he wait so long? Why couldn't he showed up when the storm showed up? Don't amen me now just because it's good preaching. Come on, isn't that our problem? It's like, God, the storm started hours ago. You could have saved us exhaustion. You could have saved us confusion. You could have saved us fear. You could have saved us anxiety. You could have saved us stress. But this storm, they've been fighting this storm for probably close to eight hours. They're exhausted. They're swamped. They're overwhelmed. They don't know which way's up. They're just trying to survive the next gale and the next wave. And here comes Jesus. Now, if you can't see the stars and you can't even see the next wave that's about to hit your boat, how do you see Jesus? Now, I'm using pastoral imagination here because the Bible doesn't tell us. It just says they saw him. But I'm going to suggest there's a little Shekinah going on. If you don't know what Shekinah is, it's that light,

that radiant light that they saw on the Mount of Transfiguration. And Jesus, by the way, isn't using conventional methods to get across the water. He's walking on the water. He's got a little glory going on. It's him and God. And the storm doesn't seem to be bothering him a whole lot. Because when you're Jesus, the storm has to move for you. You don't move for it. And so when they see him, they see this glowing light moving across what seems to be the horizon. And they realize, wait a minute, that looks like Jesus. So you and I have to, first of all, if we're gonna navigate our storms well, we have to trust God's timing. You gotta trust it, because if you don't trust it, you'll be convinced that God's late. Now, here's what I know, now, the timing is the, time is the first created principle in the Bible. God said, let there be light, and then he divided the light and he gave the evening and morning, and it was the first day. From that moment forward, God has been measuring everything by time. And everything we do is measured by time. We measure our work, we measure our play, we measure our recreation, we measure our counseling, you're measuring my message. All by time, right? But time is relative to God. He created it in our world so that we could measure things, but for God, he lives in a different reality. He lives in a thing called eternity. And when you became a citizen of heaven,

guess what you became? You became an eternal being. Now, God doesn't want you to regulate how you move through life based on the regular timeframes, because if you do, you will always think God's either late or God's not showing up when he needs to, or he's always missing it, but when you're on his time, his glory is all that matters, his purpose is all that matters, and it's not my comfort. Because have you discovered this about God? He's never, ever, never, ever, ever, ever early. Anybody? He never shows up early. Why don't you show up before this starts? Because then I couldn't appreciate him for it. Why don't you show up earlier? Like when I get the diagnosis, why don't you heal me then? Before I have to go through this, and I have to go through that, and I have to have this treatment, or I have to have this surgery. Why don't you show up before I have to go to the lawyer, or I have to go talk to the bank, or I have to walk in and do the counseling? Ain't nobody amenin' me here, but I'll keep preaching. Here's what you need to know about timing. Timing is related to two things, the season that you're in, what God is trying to show you, and secondly, his purpose. His purpose is the defining point of timing,

and the reason why we don't believe that God's ever on time is because we're regulating it based on our comfort. Hey, Lord, the one whom you love is sick. Great, let's take four extra days. Don't bother the teacher. The person that you came to minister to, he's dead. There's no reason to bother him anymore. He's late. And let's be honest, you've said it too. You're late. If you'd have just got here then, this wouldn't have happened. Because let's be honest, we all have designer prayers. Lord, I know you will move if you'll do it this way at this time, because I need to be comfortable. And the way you make my faith strong is by giving me everything I ask for when I ask for it. Boy, that's good preaching, Pastor. Man, just keep it up. I'm blessed, right? Oh, the word of the Lord is great in you. David encouraged himself in the Lord. My name is David. Here's what you need to know. God's resources are discovered in his timing. If we go to the throne of grace to obtain what? Mercy and find grace in the nick of time. That's what Hebrews says. So God's resources, mercy is a resource. Grace is a resource.

It's how God enables. Mercy is me not getting something I deserve. Grace is me receiving something I don't deserve. These are all key to me being in the victory that God has. Now, remember the story. Let's stay with it. Jesus is walking. They see him in his glow, and they look at him, and they go, oh, thank you, Lord. What took you so long? No, if you read it, the Bible says in verse 26 and 27, but when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said, it's a ghost. And they cried out in fear. Listen because that's the way we all disciples respond to the revelation of Jesus We get terrified. We think it's a demon spirit and We get full of fear. Is that what we're supposed to do when we meet Jesus see Jesus. He comes to us No, that's just the opposite and Then Jesus spoke to them saying take heart in his eye do not be afraid what happens when the storm comes to your life I believe one of the major reasons that the enemy Worked how that one of the major ways the enemy works in our lives in the middle of storms is we lose our discernment of Jesus Jesus has showed up He's in his glory. He's in his Shekinah. He is omniscient. He could do anything He's omnipotent. He's everywhere He come on. He's he's omnipotent. He's got all power and He's walking on the water and he's revealing his Shekinah glory and they decide that you know, that just can't be him They were quicker to give the devil

the credit for a Supernatural engagement than they are the Lord who's been doing nothing but supernatural things in front of them We Lose our discernment. Why did they lose it? It only took him about eight hours They lose it from the miracle of loaves and fishes and that's why he says at the very end of this story He says they didn't they didn't understand what he did in the loaves and the fishes Because had they understood it they would have rejoiced in his coming and they would have all jumped out of the boat and they would All run to Jesus So if you're gonna navigate the storm well, let me give you some some lessons some principles number one number one Anticipate the unexpected He's omniscient omnipotent omnipresent Every snowflake has its own characteristics every human being that's ever existed on planet earth from time and beginning and to the very end of time has its own DNA Strand its own Significant imprint nobody's like you nobody will ever be like you God has never run out of creative ways to reveal himself Except for when he deals with me Well, God can't do this unless he does it this way He's not God unless he's done it listen, I've never seen God do it like that So So what's the problem? Well, he's just never done it like that before so What's the problem? Well, you don't understand I just don't believe God can do it that way because he's he's never done it like that Yes, and I say so Because familiarity is your biggest limit to the greater experiences of God Because of what he has done he has been anchored to past experiences past Moments past victories past breakthroughs past miracles, and I'm here to tell you he hasn't run out of miracles He hasn't run out of favor. He hasn't run out of blessing. He hasn't run out of provision He's still got it. He can still do it in ways that you never dreamed or a mess Come on, your eye hasn't seen your ear hasn't heard. It hasn't entered your heart what God has prepared for you Come on

You got to anticipate this is called familiarity You got to anticipate this is called faith expectancy. I expect God don't move. It doesn't matter how he moves Can I tell you it doesn't matter where it is how it is. Can I let you in on something about God? You ready? You ready? It's the most revelational thing. I'll say today He's God He can do anything he wants any way he wants anytime he wants The Second thing you've got to do if you're gonna navigate your storm. Well, don't let your distress Distort your perspective of his coming They're so they're so overwhelmed. They're so at the end of themselves That first of all, they can't believe that could be him because he's never done that before and secondly They're just exhausted You ever been that way in faith been that way in life, I'm just so exhausted I just can't I just can't uh, I Can't handle a fresh revelation of God right now. I Just want to get up have a cup of coffee eat an egg McMuffin Our distress distorts our perception, and they're looking at Jesus, they're looking at their redemption, they're looking at their Savior, they're looking at their answer and they go, Ahhhh! It's a ghost. But listen, how do you know the difference? How can you distinguish? Is this the enemy or is this the Lord? By what they say. The enemy's gonna say, yeah, you're not gonna make it. Yeah, you're not gonna survive. Yeah, this is gonna kill you. You're out of the way. You've missed God. You've disobeyed. You've done this. You've done that. You're never gonna make it. That's the enemy. But Jesus comes and says, Hey, be happy. It's me. Don't be afraid.

He's counseling you, and his counsel always produces peace. It always reveals himself. It always removes fear. And it encourages your faith. You can always discern what God is saying to you as his voice. What is the content? Doesn't have to scream. Sometimes it's a still, small voice. But the content will always take heart. It's I. Don't be afraid. Here's what navigating a storm. So I gotta expect the unexpected. I've got to, I can't let discernment, excuse me, my distress distort. I gotta listen to what he's saying in the midst of my storm, even if I can't believe what I'm seeing. Because why? We walk by faith, not by sight. Navigating storms requires you to have faith. Now, I love this about this moment. They're up here, you know, the perfect demonstration of my message on time. Listen, the disciples are sitting there, and they're seeing Jesus, and they're relating to Jesus, but they still can't believe it. But Peter says, you know what? We just saw him multiply a boy's lunch sack. We just saw him heal the sick and recover the blind eye and the lame walk. You know, that could be him. That could be him. And so Peter looks, and he goes, Lord, if that's you, tell me to come to you on the water. Now, whose idea is this? It's not Jesus's. Jesus didn't say, hey, who wants to come out here with me?

No, no, no. Peter, in the boat, with all his screaming, whimpering friends, says, you know, that could be him. Lord, if that, tell me to come. And what does Jesus say? You need a little bit more counseling. You need to have four more sessions on faith walking. No, no, no. He says one word, come, come. And Peter throws his leg over the side of the boat and starts walking on the water. Now, what starts with faith is sustained by obedience. And you're going to discover that faith and obedience are essentially the same thing. That I can't have faith without obedience, and my obedience is always a reflection of my faith. You tell me you're faith-filled and you're never obedient to God, I have to question your faith. So let me tell you how to walk in the storm. Storms are for faith, not for survival. Don't turn your back to the storm, turn your face into it. Did I share with you the difference between cattle and buffalo in a storm? Cattle, when the storm comes, turn their back and walk with the storm, which prolongs the storm. And that's why many cattle don't survive severe storms. Buffalo always survives storms. You want to know why? Because buffalo turn and face and walk into the storm, thus shortening the duration but magnifying the intensity. And you and I, because we have a survivalist mentality, we turn and walk with it, and we...why can't I ever...why isn't this changing?

Why hasn't everything...why hasn't...I've been delivered. Lord, where are you? What's going on? God said, would you please turn towards me and walk through your storm? Because when you go through the fire, I'll be with you. When you go through the water, it will not overcome you. When you go through the river, it will not over... Storms are not for survival. Storms are for faith. Miracles are result of stepping out of sinking situation. The storm will always sink your boat until Jesus gets in it. If you're in a boat and Jesus ain't in there, you're better out on the storm walking with him. What did Jesus say to Peter? Come. I love that he didn't give him five theological reasons to come. Didn't say, if you'll do this, I'll do that. He just said, come. I'm gonna tell you, can I tell one story? I'm gonna tell one story. I don't have the time pressure. I still want to honor your time. This is kind of a silly story, but many years ago I used to man a phone for a great faith preacher by the name of R.W. Schambach. I was one of his students. I later became one of his associate evangelists. Some of you know who he is, some of you don't. And I always man the late night ones, like the midnight to 2-3 in the morning ones. And so you always got the weirdos. So I get a call one night. Person says, hey, I need you to pray. I said, be glad to pray for you. What do you need? She said, well, she said, I had this cat and it died three days ago. He's in a shoebox in the garage and I'm so grieved over it, I would like to have somebody agree with me in prayer that God will raise my cat from the dead. No. Not interested in doing that. Number one, I don't care for cats, so one less in the world is not a bad thing. Come on now, pastor, you and me. Now there's some of you, pray for your enemies, pray for your enemies. And I, and I, so I thought, you know what? I literally had my Bible and I started thumbing through it. I'm like, I got to find the scripture says, thou shalt not pray for dead cats. Couldn't find it. It's not in the Bible. So then I thought, you know, she just needs pastoral

wisdom. She's, she's clearly a lunatic and she just needs pastoral wisdom. So I, I literally getting ready to open my mouth and say, you know what? Surely that cat stinketh. Bury it in the ground. Go, go adopt yourself another Morris. I'm sure that cat will, you know, and let's just move on. You know, she just needed wisdom. I'm getting ready to say that. And God speaks to me. You know what he says? I'll let you in on it. He said, don't you dare damage her faith. I'm like, what? Well, I'm perfectly happy doing that, Lord. I'm the faith damager. You just send me and I'll damage anybody's faith you want me to damage. And, and the Lord, the Lord just like, so now what am I going to do? What am I, what am I going to do? I can, I can make, I got a choice. I can disobey God and do what I think is best, right? Which is counsel her. Or I can pray for a dead cat that I don't have any faith that God's going to do anything for it because God doesn't raise cats from the dead because I've never seen him do that before. So you want to hear my prayer? It was the best Presbyterian prayer I've ever prayed. I said, okay, let's pray. Lord, raise this cat from the dead. In Jesus name. Amen. That's how I prayed, bro. Straight up. Now you've heard me preach. You think I pray like that normally? No, that is my faithless prayer. That's not my faithful prayer. That's my faithless prayer. So I, I didn't, I didn't do any of that. So get off the phone. Hope nobody's heard that because I don't need the reputation of being the great cast cat prayer person. So the next morning we're in, we're in devotions and we're celebrating what God was doing over the prayer phone and, and, uh, somebody comes busting out of the room and says, Hey, I got this incredible praise report. So we all turn. We're excited to hear it. Hey, this woman called late last night, asked for prayer for her dead cat. I just started sinking down my seat. Oh no. She said, well, this morning she woke up at scratching at her door she opens the door her cat jumped into her hands arms and the box was empty God had raised that cat from the dead now this is her testimony I didn't see it so you know what I did you know what I did turn around I punched my buddy I said I prayed for that cat

Jesus never discourages faith even if it doesn't make sense to you pastor bit build big pastor build big even if other wise people to you that don't make a lot of sense why would you do that in you mom because God said because God put it in my heart because God's put something we're gonna reach our city we're gonna reach our region we don't have a big enough place up we need to enlarge our tents up we need to make a bigger house up there so that more can know Jesus so the Morgan experience the power and presence of God we gotta have more we're gonna go big we're gonna go gorge up because God is bigger God is big enough God never God never God never discourages faith oh I'm done I'll leave you with my dead cat story if you're in this room right now and you are in the middle of a storm I felt like God called me to come here and encourage your faith God has not forgotten you God has you on his mind I don't care how silly how crazy how impossible it might seem to you if you're here today and you say pastor I need I need I need to get out of this storm I need God to give me some wisdom I need him to reveal himself I need a breakthrough come on lift your hand right now and we're gonna believe God to break you through break you through in the name of Jesus come on keep that hand lifted we've got others that are going to be praying for you but can I pray right now in the name of Jesus father I ask for faith to arise I ask for faith that will dictate our distortions take our fears take our anxieties take our exhaustion and remove them at father it will stand on the principle that your word is enough up your your presence is enough your goodness is enough your promise is enough and today father I bind the lies of the enemy I bind the discouragement of the enemy I pray hope I pray strength I pray grace I pray anointing fill and flood each and every heart and each and every life in this room I thank you father that right now you're releasing healing right now you're restoring families up right now God you're breaking through emotionally Lord those that are tormented with anxiety with fear Lord God that you're breaking that stronghold and you're giving them a fresh hope Lord we give you the glory the honor the praise for you are great and greatly to be praised in Jesus

mighty name come on somebody in the house you've got a praise right now Oh it's never been a day never been a minute never been a moment that you weren't in it there's never been a time that you didn't see me through God so I I worship you today never been a minute never been a moment that you weren't in it there's never been a time that you didn't see me through God so I worship you never been a day never been a minute never been a moment that you weren't in it there's never been a time that you didn't see me through God so I worship you oh Jesus I was tossed in the water but I never went under and you were always on time Jesus ♪ I went through the fire ♪ ♪ You were right there beside me ♪ ♪ You were always on time ♪ ♪ You were always, always, always on time ♪ ♪ Yes, you were always, always, always on time ♪ Sing it! ♪ You were always, always, always on time ♪ ♪ You were always, always, always on time ♪ ♪ Jesus, I was tossed in the water ♪ ♪ But I'm now going under ♪ ♪ You were always on time ♪ Come on, sing it with all your heart. ♪ Jesus, when I went through the fire ♪ ♪ You were right there beside me ♪ ♪ You were always on time ♪ Thank you, Jesus. Come on, give Him a shout, give Him a praise.

All the glory, all the honor to the God who never fails, amen. Thank you, church. We love you so much. We'll see you on Wednesday for First Wednesday.