The Jesus factor in the Storm

- Good morning, guys. It's such an honor and a blessing to be able to speak to you right here from Life Fellowship Church in McKinney, Texas. Through your tablet on the Pando app, it's just amazing technology. And we're so blessed to be able to speak to so many of you, thousands of you watching. We're honored, we're blessed. We want you to know that you're part of our church family. You're not just this thing that we do. We love you, we pray for you. And we're about you, man. My heart is so for you. My name is Logan Williams. My TDC number is 1490218. I got four numbers after that. I just share that with you because I've been there. I've been in the situation that you're at, whether you're sitting in county jail right now and not wondering what's gonna happen or am I gonna get some time? Or maybe you're sitting on a maximum security unit with a bunch of time. Like I've been in all of those places and I understand, man, like wanting to get right, wanting to do better, wanting to have a new and different life, but just continuing to get sucked back in. That's the four numbers that I have,

round and round and round the system. And it's frustrating, I know, I know, man. I just wanna encourage you to keep heart, man. Like don't give up, don't stop walking this path. The enemy wants you to. And I know it's really easy to wanna fall back into that. Whatever that thing is that you do in the situation that you're at. I know, I can just share for me, every time I was incarcerated, man, I would go to church, I would check those boxes. You know, I would get baptized, probably been baptized a dozen times, just hoping that this would be the magical time that something changed. But I never tried to change my life. I never waged war against my sin. I never got all the way in. That's why Jesus says, man, there's a narrow path and few find it. Many search for it, but few find it. Guys, I want you to be on the narrow path because when I finally got all in with him, man, my life just took off like a rocket ship. And I'm able to impact his kingdom for him. I'm able to speak to thousands of men and women incarcerated now because I got all in on August 11th of 2021. Because I got all in on that day, I'm able to make much of his name and be used, man.

And I'm telling you guys, man, there's nothing like being used by God, by doing an outreach or speaking to someone or having a moment or affecting someone's life and knowing that, godly, man, God, just use me. There's not a drug, alcohol, a sexual encounter, a pile of money that can buy some stuff that can touch that feeling, man. I'm telling you, man, Mike, please, please, please, whatever he is asking you to lay down. Ben, lay it down, get all in, it's not easy. The narrow road is difficult, it's not easy. Hey, tell your friends and family that they can download the same Pando app on their phone and that you guys can watch the same services, the same teachings, read the same books, the chosen is on there, Bible recap is on there, a whole lot of resources are on there. And you can watch it together. And when you see each other in visitation or when you're talking on the phone or when you're writing, you can talk about it, hey, man, what the Holy Spirit say to you during that message and y'all can have that. Like you can do this walk with your family even though you're incarcerated. Don't buy into the lie that you can't do that. You can absolutely do that. And that's what we want you to do. We want you to still lead your kids

even though you're locked up. You can do that. Don't buy into the lie. Don't buy into the lie. I was reading Psalm 16 this morning. I mean, I read it a lot. It's just on, God gives me these scriptures, man. And I like, hang on to them for like a season. And this particular one, starting in verse 10, says, "For you will not leave my soul in shield, nor will you allow your Holy one to see corruption. You will show me the path of life." Guys, if you want it, he will show it to you. It says, "In your presence is the fullness of joy. At your right hand are pleasures forevermore. In your presence is fullness of joy." Like how many things do we seek after to try to get joy, to try to get that fullness of joy? Sexual sin, pornography, alcohol, drugs, money, stealing from people, whatever it is. Man, and it promises fullness of joy, right? It promises that this time I'm gonna be fulfilled, but it always, it always leaves us. and I'll see you next time. He always leaves us wanting more. It always leaves us disappointed. Man, I want to encourage you. Like there's only one place that you can find the fullness of joy, where it's overflowing. Like rivers of living water coming out of your heart.

And I think that's what we all want. That's what we're all after. I do a lot of work with drug addicts 'cause I've used them for years. I believe every single person that is doing drugs, they're really seeking God. They just don't know it. Like they're seeking this thing, this presence, this fullness of joy. And Jesus says, "Man, out of them will flow rivers "of living water." And I'm telling you, when you can experience that. And many of you are experiencing it there. Many of you are. I just want to call the ones that are not. I want to call you up, man. Like it's one thing to just go to a church service and pray a prayer, recite after me, you know? But it's another thing to get all in and to have that fullness of joy. Because, man, I know we're always seeking to get to a certain place, right? And if I can just get to this place financially, or if I can get to this place, if I can just get this job, you know, when I was incarcerated, you know, we had jobs we wanted. If I could just get to that place, or if I could just make parole, or if I could just get out, all these places we strive for,

but there's only one place that matters in his presence. That's where the fullness of joy is. Man, focus on that. Fix your eyes on that. Let him take care of everything else. Let him take care of all that other stuff. Because he will. He will. I can't. I think I can sometimes. I think I can control and manipulate situations. Always fall short. I'm always left disappointed. Why not focus on him being in his presence? Because check it. He can actually do something about it. The thing that I'm tripping on. He can actually do something about the thing that I'm worried about, or the situation circumstance that's going on in my life. And I know many of you have situations and circumstances. You're in a tough place. You're surrounded by drugs. You're surrounded by crazy people. Man, focus on his presence. Get like-minded people around you. If you don't have any like-minded people around you, pray that God to send at least one person that you can do this walk with,

that you can do James 516 with and confess your sins to one another and pray for one another and be healed. Like you just need one. But you need community. God never intended us to do this alone. So man, I love you guys. Man, life fellowship loves you or for you. We have a pretty cool message that's about to come on. You're gonna like it, okay? At first you're gonna see this guy and you're gonna be like, "Man, what's this man?" This is the most energetic, older gentleman I've ever seen. It's pretty cool. I wanna be like him when I grow up. But y'all enjoy this message. Let me pray for you. Father, I just thank you. I thank you for the men and women that you've left 99 for. Interchasing after God. I thank you that let them know, man, that just even the fact that they clicked on this video today, man just shows that you are after them, that it's not a coincidence that they didn't just happen upon this. God, you are chasing them. You are after them. God, I pray that your Holy Spirit would just fall on them, God. And I just pray that if there's anyone lost that's watching this, man, that they would be saved right now by the power of your Holy Spirit,

let them know, man, that it's just as easy as believing in calling on the name of Jesus. It says, "You will be saved," Romans 10. So God, I pray that over anyone that's watching, I just ask that you would bless them, that you would protect them in the place that they're at, that you would bless their families while they're gone. God, be their provider for their families, be a father for their kids, be a, just be that, that meet that need, God. I pray that you would meet them right where they're at, and that you would bless them. And God, we thank you. We love you. We're so grateful for you, for saving us. We're so grateful that we're able to have this community on a tablet with a bunch of men that are incarcerated. God, you're so good. You're so good. And so we just ask that you would have your way, man. Just we just invite you in to do what only you can do, and we love you in Jesus' name. Amen. You know, I just got one more question for you. Who's house? God's house. Let's give them some praise. (gentle music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music)

♪ Good morning, good morning ♪ ♪ And praise the Lord like fellowship families ♪ ♪ I was glad when they sent us to be ♪ ♪ Let us go to the house of the Lord ♪ ♪ What a blessing it is to be able to lift up the name of Jesus, amen ♪ ♪ Come on, why don't you stand on your feet ♪ ♪ And put those hands together ♪ (upbeat music) ♪ Leave me alone ♪ ♪ There's singing at the action gates ♪ ♪ There's a melody of ceaseless praise ♪ ♪ H to H, the sound is only growing stronger ♪ ♪ There's a throne beneath the name of names ♪ ♪ They're seated on it one who reigns ♪ ♪ And his kingdom now is here and getting closer ♪ ♪ So praise him like we're there in glory ♪ ♪ Here and now he's just as holy ♪ ♪ Jesus he's so worthy of all ♪ ♪ Oh yes he is ♪ ♪ And he's just been everlasting lies ♪ ♪ So heaven streets there is no night ♪ ♪ Every tear is far to play ♪ ♪ We'll know no sorrow ♪ ♪ Worship him with joyful sound ♪ ♪ Sing until your voice gets on ♪ ♪ Don't matter where ♪ ♪ Oh who's around ♪ ♪ Release your worship ♪ ♪ We'll sing that one more time say ♪ ♪ Oh worship him with joyful sound ♪

♪ Oh sing until your voice gets on ♪ ♪ Don't matter where ♪ ♪ Oh who's around ♪ ♪ Release your worship ♪ ♪ So praise him like we're there in glory ♪ ♪ And now he's just as holy ♪ ♪ Jesus he's so worthy of all ♪ ♪ Your song he loves to live in ♪ ♪ Every prayer is so sweet ♪ ♪ Jesus he's so worthy of all ♪ ♪ Oh whoa whoa whoa whoa ♪ ♪ Oh he's so worthy of it all ♪ ♪ Kimma can you just lift up your hands ♪ ♪ Lift up your voice ♪ ♪ Until I'm God you are so worthy ♪ ♪ Of all my praise ♪ ♪ All my worship ♪ ♪ And it belongs to you and your own Jesus ♪ ♪ Oh so worthy so worthy of all ♪ ♪ The one who was the one who was the one who was the one ♪ ♪ The one who is to come ♪ ♪ The one who was the one who is the one who is to come ♪ ♪ The one who was the one who is the one who is ♪ ♪ The one who is to come ♪ ♪ We give you all the glory, yeah ♪ ♪ The one who is to come to the one who was the one who was ♪ ♪ The one who was the one who was the one who was the one ♪ ♪ The one who was the one who was the one who was the one who was the one ♪ ♪ We live a life with every glory ♪ ♪ And now he's just as holy ♪

♪ Jesus keeps talking to what he wanted all ♪ ♪ Oh, yes he is ♪ ♪ Oh, great good songs he loves to be ♪ ♪ In every breath of the living Jesus ♪ (upbeat music) (upbeat music) (upbeat music) ♪ The one who is the one who is the guy ♪ ♪ We give you all the glory ♪ ♪ And the one who is to the one who was today ♪ ♪ The one who is the one who is the guy ♪ ♪ We lift the holy hand and say to the one who was ♪ ♪ The one who is the one who never changed ♪ ♪ Or to the one who was the one who was the one who was ♪ ♪ We give you all the glory ♪ ♪ We give you all the glory to the one who was ♪ ♪ The one who is to the one who was the one who was ♪ ♪ We lift the holy hand and say to the one who was the one who was ♪ ♪ We lift the holy hand and say to the one who was the one who was ♪ ♪ We lift the holy hand and say to the one who was the one who was ♪ ♪ He loves to hear and bring in every prayer so deliric ♪ ♪ Jesus, He's so worthy of it all ♪ ♪ Come on, if you know He's worthy of it all ♪ ♪ Give it all a praise, hallelujah ♪ ♪ You, Jesus, you're worthy of all of it ♪ ♪ You're worthy of all of the glory ♪ ♪ For all that you've done for the Christ that you paid for us all across ♪ ♪ Jesus, we thank You so much ♪ ♪ Oh, we thank You, Lord, for all that You have done God ♪ ♪ We thank You, Jesus ♪

♪ Oh, the perfect sign of God ♪ ♪ In all His innocence ♪ ♪ You're walking in the dirt with You and Me ♪ ♪ He knows what living is ♪ ♪ He's acquainted with our Greek ♪ ♪ Man of sorrow, son of suffering ♪ ♪ Oh, blood and tears ♪ ♪ How can it be ♪ ♪ There's a God who wakes up ♪ ♪ And there's a God who bleeds ♪ ♪ Oh, praise the One ♪ ♪ Who would reach for Me ♪ ♪ And finally, to the Son of suffering ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ In some imagine you ♪ ♪ My dreams didn't remove ♪ ♪ But yet you changed us down ♪ ♪ In mercy for Christmas ♪ ♪ Yet you did look ♪ ♪ To the sin of your grace ♪ ♪ At the throne you gave a lit grace ♪ ♪ Over the end the proof is angels ♪ ♪ Oh ♪ ♪ But in the end the proof was angels ♪ ♪ Oh, blood and tears ♪ ♪ How can it be ♪ ♪ There's a God who wakes up ♪ ♪ And there's a God who bleeds ♪ ♪ Oh, praise the One ♪ ♪ Who would reach for Me ♪

♪ Oh ♪ ♪ To the Son of suffering ♪ ♪ Oh, blood and tears ♪ ♪ How can it be ♪ ♪ There's a God who eats ♪ ♪ And there's a God who bleeds ♪ ♪ Oh, praise the One ♪ ♪ Who would reach for Me ♪ ♪ Oh, blood and tears ♪ ♪ And to the Son of suffering ♪ (upbeat music) Come on, would you just raise the sound and worship with the Holy Spirit? We sing hallelujah to the Lord of lords, to the one who died for thee, to the one who died to save thee. Hallelujah. Your cross is not free, your stripes are my healing. All praise come on, King Jesus, glory to God and heaven. In your blood, it's just speaking, your love. It's still reaching, all praise, come on. Your cross is not free, your stripes are my healing. All praise come on, King Jesus, glory to God and heaven. In your blood, it's just speaking, your love is not reaching, all praise, King Jesus, glory to God forever. Glory to God forever. We thank you for your cross, Lord. We thank you for your victory. We thank you for your victory, Jesus. Glory to God forever. We sing, your cross is not free, your stripes are my healing.

All praise come on, King Jesus, glory to God forever. In your blood, it's just speaking, your love is not reaching, all praise, King Jesus, glory to God forever. Your cross is not free, your stripes are my healing. All praise come on, King Jesus, glory to God, King Jesus, glory to God. Glory to God forever. Your love is not reaching, all praise, King Jesus, glory to God forever. Glory to God forever. Your love is not right, Jesus, glory to God. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. Glory to God forever. Glory to God forever. We give glory to God forever. Glory to God forever. Your Lord is heard of all praise. Glory to God forever. Love, blood and tears, how can it be that there's a God who weeks, and there's a God who bleeds. I'll praise the one who would still reach for me. Hallelujah to the Son of Selphory. We sing Hallelujah to the Son of Selphory. We sing Hallelujah to the Son of Selphory. I'm going to be taking communion together this morning. If you had to receive your elements, please raise your hands and be one of the ushers who meet you and give it to you. This is a sacred moment, not just only to remind Jesus' sacrifice and that cross for you and for me, but also to align our hearts with God's will. And I want to remind us to pass as you say in Matthew 26, 39, when Jesus was in the garden, he was feeling all the heaviness, he was feeling our sins from all over the world over his body.

And he had one prayer, that he's had my father, if it's possible, made this cup was taken from me, yet not as I will, but your will. And this morning I want to remember us about Jesus, he surrendered his life for us. He had all the fear, all the sorrow, he felt everything in that moment, but he decided to do God's will first. And I want to remind us this morning that his will, his plans are better than ours. And remember, I want to ask a question, if you can ask yourself this morning, am I willing to get out of my comfort zone, get out of my comfort to do God's will? 'Cause Jesus did for us. And we're willing to surrender our plans, our dreams, our will to make his will be done. Let's take a moment and think about that. Lord, thank you for a sacrifice in that cross. Thank you for surrendering your life to do God's will, the Father's will, not your will, Lord. And we want to do the same this morning, Lord. We give our will to you and one of your will be done in our lives. We give you this, this juice of this bread of presented, Lord, your body was broken for us and your blood was shed for us in that cross. We just say thank you. We honor we, we love you, Lord, in Jesus' name. Amen, let's drink and eat together and worship the Lord.

♪ ♪ You were the world of the beginning ♪ ♪ One with God the Lord most I ♪ ♪ Her Headed glory and creation ♪ ♪ Now I'm here, here you are cross ♪ ♪ What a beautiful name it is ♪ ♪ What a beautiful name it is ♪ ♪ The name it is ♪ ♪ Oh, what a beautiful name it is ♪ ♪ Nothing compares to this ♪ ♪ What a beautiful name it is ♪ ♪ The name of Jesus ♪ ♪ You didn't want heaven without us ♪ ♪ So, Jesus, you're running down and down ♪ ♪ Oh, we sing this great love ♪ ♪ This great hallelujah ♪ ♪ What good's ever made us know ♪ ♪ What a wonderful name it is ♪ ♪ What a wonderful name it is ♪ ♪ The name of Jesus Christ, my Jesus ♪ ♪ What a wonderful name it is ♪ ♪ Nothing compares to this ♪ ♪ What a wonderful name it is ♪ ♪ The name of Jesus ♪ ♪ What a wonderful name it is ♪ ♪ The name of Jesus ♪ ♪ You're so good ♪ ♪ We can't thank you, love ♪ ♪ We can't thank you, love ♪ ♪ You're so good, love ♪

♪ We thank you for the blood we shed ♪ ♪ We're saving us far, there's no one life ♪ ♪ We cannot thank you, love ♪ ♪ 'Cause death could not hold you ♪ ♪ But their door is fine ♪ ♪ We silence the bells ♪ ♪ I've stood and prayed ♪ ♪ Heaven's our glory ♪ ♪ The praise of your glory ♪ ♪ For you are raised ♪ ♪ 'Cause you are again ♪ ♪ 'Cause you have the rival ♪ ♪ And you have no equal ♪ Can your sister keep up And yours is the glory Your sister's name The world's name What a powerful name it is What a powerful name it is The name of Jesus Christ Oh, what a powerful name it is And nothing else can get What a powerful name it is The name of Jesus You have no rival And you have no evil And now it's forever gone to rain Can your sister keep up And yours is the glory Your sister's name

The name of Jesus Christ You have no rival And you have no evil And now it's forever gone to rain Can your sister keep up And yours is the glory Your sister's name What a powerful name What a powerful name it is What a powerful name The name of Jesus You have no evil Nothing could stand against What a powerful name it is The name of Jesus What a powerful name it is The name of Jesus The name of Jesus The name of Jesus The name of Jesus What a powerful name it is The name of Jesus Jesus, we thank you this morning We thank you for who you are and for what you've done, Lord We're shedding your blood on that cross For breaking your body loose You defeated death, hell, in the grave and we cannot thank you enough We cannot thank you enough, Lord, you deserve all the glory You're so wonderful, you're so beautiful, you're so powerful And we thank you, we thank you and we worship you, Lord

We worship Jesus Lord, we just give you all of the honor and all of the power and all of the glory We love you and we thank you And all God's people say amen, amen Well thank you all for worshiping the best this morning It's so good to see you all and the host of the Lord You can take your seats and turn your attention to the screen for the announcements Happy Sunday, we're really glad you're here with us today And if you're new here, welcome, text new to 51010 We'd love to connect with you, answer any questions you have And help you find your next step here at Life Fellowship Every Sunday, so much of what happens here is possible because people chose to serve If Life Fellowship is home for you and you're looking for a way to get involved There is a place for unity No matter your gift, experience or personality You can make a difference in how to create a place where people can encounter Jesus If you're ready to jump in, we'd love to help you to find a right place to serve First Peter says, each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others And that's one of the beautiful things about the church God has given every one of us something to contribute Some people give financially while others serve with their time But most of us have the opportunity to do both Your generosity provides the resources that make ministry possible And our volunteers bring that ministry to life Every single weekend If you've been wondering where you fit, maybe your next step is joining a serve team And as you give today, remember, you're helping build a church where people can use this Thank you for responding as God leads you. - We excited for what God has for us today. Absolutely.

Let's get our hearts ready for the message. - Well, good morning, live fellowship. How are we doing today? (audience cheering) Thank you for making live fellowship part of your Sunday. We're honored that you're with us today. We have an incredible message for you today. We're continuing on in our series. If God is for us and normally our transition pastor, Pastor Dave Devine would be with us. But today he's actually traveling with a group of pastors and missionaries. They are all the way over in Vietnam, advancing God's kingdom in the country of Vietnam. So please be praying for them. We're excited to hear all the stories when he's back with us next week. But today we have a very special guest speaker, a new friend of live fellowship, Pastor Don Barnes, who is a retired pastor, all the way up from law in Oklahoma, which makes him a boomer sooner, but we're gonna let it slide this one time. So as he comes to bring the message today, I want you guys to have your Bibles ready, have your notes ready. It's really an incredible word. And would you help me join me in welcoming Pastor Barnes to the stage? (audience cheering)

- Bless you. - Thank you, sir. - Hallelujah. Amen. How many love Jesus this morning? - Really? - Hallelujah. - Amen, amen. I got up about 4.30 this morning 'cause we live in Walksahatchee. And I was excited about coming to the house of God, because I knew you'd be here and bring the presence of the Lord, amen? Hallelujah, Hallelujah. Now I just get excited. So when I preach a message, I get excited and I expect you to get excited with me. 'Cause let me know the word of God is an exciting subject, Hallelujah. And the presence of the Lord is here in an awesome way. And we're believing that the Lord's gonna do miracles. He did that in first service. Five people raise their hand for salvation. People came to the front for miracles. How many need a miracle today? Anybody? (audience cheering) Well, the miracle worker is here, right? Hallelujah, Hallelujah. So I'm thrilled to be here. I just love your transition pastor, Pastor Dave.

And he just, as soon as you talk to him, you love him, right? Yeah, and so you're in good hands. I'm also a transition pastor with the same group and have done this two or three times. And so I'm just here to say, Jesus is the head of this church and how many know the best is yet to come. Amen, you believe that? Hallelujah. So we're gonna talk today about the Jesus factor in a storm. The Jesus factor. Jesus makes the difference, right? He's the X factor. He's the one that gets us through any kind of storm. And people have described life as, well, I'm either just coming out of a storm or I'm just going in a storm or I'm the middle of a storm, okay? Because life is full of storms. But Jesus, Jesus comes to the disciples in this big storm where they think it's all over and he comes to them walking on the water. You know this story, but we're gonna dive a little deeper and see what God would say to us. And I wanna welcome all those that are watching online wherever you're at. And especially our men and women in the correctional facilities. Let's give them a big praise to the Lord, Amen. God's gonna do America in your life. So stay tuned, Amen.

Let's read the Scripture in Mark chapter six. You wanna keep your place in the Bible in Mark chapter six. And then as we get into the message will, we have to go to Matthew 14 to finish the story. So first of all, Mark chapter six, immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to Bethsaida where he dismissed the crowd. After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray. Later that night, the boat was in the middle of the lake and he was all alone on land. He saw the disciples straining at the oars because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn, he went out to them walking on the lake. He was about to pass by them, but when they saw him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost. They cried out because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately he spoke to them and said, "Take courage, it is I, don't be afraid." Then he climbed into the boat with them and the wind died down and they were completely amazed. A completely amazed. How many are ready to see miracles that just would totally amaze you and astonish you because that's our God, right? Yeah. So this story happens right after the feeding of the 5,000, which was really counting women and children would have been 20,000 people.

That great miracle, the Lord did. And then he asked the disciples to get in a boat and to go up the shore to Bethsaida about two hours away. And he didn't go with them. And it was, it was dark and they said it was just, And it's so dark, I mean, it's pitch black. Can you imagine? No electricity. The storm clouds, you know, hiding the moon and the stars. I mean, you couldn't see anything. And Jesus had not yet joined them. They're feeling alone. They're feeling frightened. They're in the middle of the lake. They're miles off course. They shouldn't have been in the middle of the lake, but this great storm came upon them. Now it says the waters were rough. That Greek word for rough is megas. We get our word mega. So this was a megastorm. This was a gigantic storm. And they were doing their best, but they felt like it was all over. They felt like there's no match for this. Ever feel like you're doing your best, but you're still going under. You know, straining and struggling and failing and not making any progress. Mark chapter six verse 48 in the new living translation says, they were in serious trouble.

How many has ever been in serious trouble? And some of us are in serious trouble right now, right? And we recognize we've got to have the Lord's help. We've got to have His help. And so, so these disciples, they felt like the Lord has forgotten us. You ever prayed and felt like your prayers were bouncing off the ceiling? You just say, he said, "Where is God when I need Him?" You know, and the waves and the wind didn't immediately stop. And where was Jesus when all this was happening? Well, we just read that He was on the mountain and He was praying for them. How many know that Jesus is praying for us right now? Before you ever got out of bed, Jesus was praying for you. While you were sleeping, Jesus was praying for you. He knows the storm you're going to go into and He's already praying for you and believing the Lord. Jesus said to Peter, he said, "Peter, I prayed for you that you will not lose your faith." Jesus is praying for us, interceding for us. Romans 834 says that He is now at the right side of the Father, interceding for us. But He doesn't just pray a general, God bless you kind of prayer. And sometimes that's the best I can do. I don't know everything that someone else is going through or how they're feeling. But it says here in verse 48, it says, "Jesus saw the disciples straining at the oars." Aren't you glad Jesus sees our struggle? He sees our pain. He knows what we're going through. We forget that God pays attention to every single detail in our life. Jesus knows when your mind is upset, when your emotions are worried and fearful. He knows every detail in your life. I love what Job said in Job 31 and 4.

Job said, "God sees everything I do and He counts every step I take." I love that about God. He's looking at the details of my life. Are you ever overwhelmed when God just takes care of something so little and you think, "Well, why would God be so interested in even the smallest details of my life?" Because that's the kind of God we serve. He is paying attention to you. Whether you're out of work and debt, conflict in your marriage with your kids or whatever you're going through, because He's our great high priest. Hebrews 4 verse 15 says, "For we do not have a high priest who's unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way just as we are yet without sin." That means He's victorious. And if He's victorious, you can be victorious because He knows what you're going through and He's praying for you. He knows what is like to be tired and frustrated and criticized and confused and in the dark and wondering, "Where's God and what's going on?" And nothing makes sense right now. Have you ever been there? A lot of us are there right now, right? So Jesus prays for us, but He prays specifically because He sees every detail in our life. And then He shows up. At the very moment, I'm ready to give up. He shows up. He's never late, often tell people, "Well, He's never late." He's seldom early, but He's never late. He's, I mean, no, He's right on time, right on time because these disciples were exhausted. They had been in this storm now for nine hours. It was a two-hour trip up the coast to Bethsaida. You know, they should have been there seven hours ago. They had no intention of being in this storm.

They got blown way off, off of course, way off, off of where they were planning to go. How many have ever been in a situation where something happened out of your control? All of a sudden you say, "I didn't ever plan to be in this mess, but I'm in a mess right now. I'm blown off course. You're miles out to sea. You're in the dark. You're all alone. It's you're about to die. The waves are lapping up against your boat, in your boat, over your head and you're scared to death and you've given up hope of everyone. That God can't help you that you just will throw in your towel and quit because the Lord is not gonna come to your rescue I mean, no, that's a lie from the pit of hell But the Lord sees exactly where you're at he cares about where you're at he's praying for you He shows up at the right time But we simply get exhausted and frustrated, you know, because because we're working so hard and sometimes We just work so hard to try to make something happen ourselves and God's saying just take a step back and let me take over Because I know what's going on. I know how to help you you see these disciples have been working all night They were desperate it was the fourth watch and Jesus went out to them And I like this about the story because Jesus doesn't stand on the shore and just holler and say hey Peter John James Go a little bit that way go a little bit to your left come over here You know, he doesn't stand on the shore and just shout instructions. I know when we're in a storm I don't need advice. I need a miracle. Amen. How many need a miracle today? God got a miracle for you So I'm gonna give you four lessons out of this story that are powerful for you to be victorious and get to a storm And the first one is we need to welcome Jesus. Okay. He's coming to where you're at He didn't expect you to go where he is. He's coming to where you're at He knows what you're going through. He knows what you're feeling and we need to welcome him Welcome him look at the scripture in in in John chapter 6 where John talks about John 6 verse 19 Says when they had wrote about three or four miles

They saw Jesus approaching the boat walking on the water and they were frightened Why were they frightened because they thought it was a ghost? What would you have done? How many no fear has a way of exaggerating and distorting what's really going on in our life and Even to keep us from seeing what Jesus wants to do in our life But he said to them Jesus said to them it is I don't be afraid then they were willing To take him into the boat. They were willing to take him into the boat Revelation 3 20 says Jesus is doing what he's standing at the door of your heart And he's knocking and if you will open the door and welcome him in He will come in and he'll sit down and have dinner with you hallelujah be to God If it's if it's Tuesday, it's taco Tuesday. How many know what I'm talking about? Jesus shows up with the tacos every time He you got to welcome the Lord, okay? How many are ready to welcome the Lord? How many know our? Our flesh wants to go trust in ourself We want to listen to someone else's advice trust in the government trust in the counselor trust in the banker trust in the preacher Trust in that one if God uses other people, okay? Don't get me wrong But we need to go to Jesus first. Hey, man. We need to welcome Jesus first He's the one that knows exactly where you're at what you're going through and has the power to deliver you and give you victory Oh, I love the stories. That's not good. He comes to us and he meets us in our pain our fear our depression our storm Our discouragement he comes to us. What a God that comes to us where we're at you may feel abandoned right now But you're not John 14 verse 18 says I will not abandon you or leave you as orphans in the storm I will come to you hallelujah. That's a good word today if people ask well Why doesn't God come sooner because he's more interested in your character than your comforts? And I always pray for my comfort. What about you? I? I'm always praying God make me more comfortable. God says no I got a lesson or two to teach you I'm gonna work on your character because God is wanting to get us to a point where we're not Depending on ourself the self-reliance goes out the window and we find ourselves saying God I am totally utterly Completely dependent upon you and you alone come on somebody because when you get to that point where you give up Trusting in yourself then God shows up and says watch what I'll do you hallelujah I'm totally dependent upon him, but watch how he comes Jesus comes

Walking on the very problem that has them scared to death The reason they're terrified is what the waves so he comes walking on the waves that cycles are afraid of the waves So he comes walking on the waves and Jesus is making a point here. He's telling the disciples guys I want you to know that whatever is over your head is under my feet Well, I love that don't you hey, let's make it personal. Let's say it this way repeat after me say whatever is over my head is under his feet. Come on praise God it's under his feet. These disciples thought He was a ghost. They didn't know it was Jesus. So we've got to get to the point of the Holy Spirit giving us a revelation of how big our God is, how great our God is, how readily available our God is to help us. If you look again at verse 49 and 50 in Mark 6, it says, "But when they saw Him walking on the water, they thought He was a ghost. They cried out because they saw Him and they were terrified. By walking on the water, Jesus is showing the disciples He's more than a man. He's not a ghost. He's not a man. Look what He says in verse 50, "Immediately Jesus spoke to them and said, 'Take courage.'" Now that's an interesting command and it, "Take courage." These guys are scured out of their mind and Jesus says, "Take courage." How can you take courage? You can't take courage unless you understand who He is. And when you understand who He is, the courage comes in and tells fear to go out the back door because courage is a gift from Him. We've got to recognize who He is. So look what it says. It says, "He said, 'Take courage, it is I, don't be afraid.'" Now the translators added a word there that's not in the Greek. It is I because I thought it made better sense. All the translations I've looked at have said it this way, except maybe one or two. It is I.

There's only two Greek words here, so literally it should be translated. I am. I am. Now does that communicate to you? Absolutely. Because that's one of the names of God. That's the covenant name of God. When Moses asks God the question, "Lord, when I go to the Egyptians and tell them God spoke to me and they ask, 'What is God's name? What do I tell them?' And God said, 'Tell them I am sent to you.'" God's name is I am that I am. Not I was, not I will be, not I hope to be. I am sufficient for everything in your life, hallelujah. Seventeen times in the New Testament, most of it's in the Gospel of John, Jesus declared, "I am." He said, "I am the bread of life. I'll satisfy all your hungers. I am the light of the world. I'll give direction and guidance to your life. I am the door. I will be the one to give you the opportunities that you need in life. I am the true vine. I will make you fruitful and successful. I am the good shepherd. I'll take care of you and I will protect you. I am the way. I am the truth. I am the life. I am the alpha and the omega, the beginning and the end.

For Abraham was, I am hallelujah, hallelujah. I am the resurrection. I am the resurrection." In John chapter 18, there's a beautiful story there of Jesus with his disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane Prang, and Jesus knew his time had come to give his life. He sees Judas coming up the mountainside with the mob. The mob sounded like a big group to me, didn't you? The mob of soldiers and those that were going to arrest Jesus and when Judas kissed Jesus and identified him, but Jesus didn't. They didn't take his life. Jesus gave his life. Jesus was always in control because he saw him coming. So he stepped forward and said, "Hey, who are you looking for?" They said, "Jesus of Nazareth." He said, "I am he." Again, the translators added a third word, the word he is not in the original. And so this is the same two words that's in our story in Mark when Jesus declared to the disciples in the store, "I am," he says it here, "I am." So to these soldiers in this mob ready to arrest him, he said, "I am," and look at what happened next, it says they withdrew and fell on their face. The power of God came forth when Jesus said, "I am," they couldn't arrest him, he gave his life. That's because he loves you so much. Hallelujah. See, see, when I'm in a storm, I don't need a plan, I need a person, I don't need a system, I need a savior, I don't need a goal, I need the great I am. It's not some, he's not some distant, apathetic, uninvolved God. He is the great I am and he is with you and promised he will never leave you. And when you don't feel his presence, his eyes on you because you are the apple of his eye, Hallelujah.

He's watching you, he's praying for you, he's blessing you, he's the great I am, have courage and tell your fears where to go. Don't let them dominate you, tell your fears to talk to Jesus. When your fears talk to Jesus, they're going to leave. [BLANK_AUDIO] How many want to receive that courage today? He's here to give you the gift of courage, the gift of courage, so that you can tell your fears where to go. First say, Lord, I, then you have Peter. I love Peter, let's go to Matthew 14. And let's go to the second lesson we see here is about Peter getting out of the boat. And we need to, number two, we need to learn to obey Jesus. Not only welcome Jesus, but obey Jesus. Matthew 14, verse 28, Peter says, Lord, if it's you, tell me to come to you on the water. Jesus said, come. So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. Peter did something wise here, because remember they thought this was a ghost. So when Jesus spoke and Peter begins to recognize, he thinks it's the Lord, he wants to be totally sure. So he said, Jesus, can you show me your ID, please? I want to be sure it's you. How about you? I wouldn't want to be getting out of the boat either,

unless I knew for sure it was Jesus, would you? I mean, the storm's all around and Jesus says, come. One word, come. Whatever the impossible situation is that you're facing, you only need one word from Jesus, Hallelujah. And you will have the miracle that you need. Can you imagine Peter walking on the water? We need to learn not to ask God to bless what we're doing, we need to do what God's blessing. Peter learned the most important lesson in this story, that it's safer to be with Jesus out of the boat than to be in the boat without Jesus. I mean, if I'm in the boat trusting in my boat, my stuff, I'm trusting in my way. This is my plan. I mean, no, I'm in trouble. I'm in the storm and I can't get out of it. But once I go to be with Jesus, I know the best place to be is in His presence. In His presence, Peter didn't want to walk on water as much as he wanted to be with Jesus. Jesus doesn't say, Peter, you got to be kidding. No, he says, come on, come on, his faith, please Jesus. The Bible says, without faith is impossible to God. If you're going to walk on the water, how many know the first thing you got to do is take the step of faith and get out of the boat. You got to get out of the boat. There's a lot of commands in the Bible

that when I look at those commands, I can't do that. Jesus asked me to forgive my enemies. How do I do that? Okay? Because it's a command. He's going to do what I can't do. When the Lord says, share your faith with your enemies. How do I do that? When the Bible says, why don't you give the first 10% of your income as a tithe and offering above that? And my flesh says, no way. We got to trust God. We got to step out of the boat and obey the Lord. So we welcome him, we obey him. And Peter did that, but then of course, we know the famous part of the story. Number three, we can learn from Peter. We got to focus on Jesus. We got to focus on Jesus. How many of the devil puts lots of circumstances around us for us to get distracted? And we lose our focus. In the Old Testament, there's a great verse. In 2 Chronicles chapter 20 verse 12, Jehoshaphat and Israel were being invaded by three armies that came together. They were overwhelmed, it was sure to feed. And Jehoshaphat said, we have no power to face this vast army. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.

Hallelujah. You may not know what to do this morning. Just keep your eyes on Jesus. 'Cause he's already got this. He's already ahead of you. He's already got the solution. He's already got the power. He's already got the miracle. And the moment you get your eyes off of the Lord, though, that's when you're sinking, you're going under. Because Matthew 40, 14 verse 30 says, but when he saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to seek. He cried out, Lord, save me. I don't know if the devil wants us to look at the storm. Not look at the Lord. And we get overwhelmed with even when we pray, all we're doing is praying about the storm. We're not looking to Jesus. Our heads down, we're dejected. We've lost our joy. We've lost our hope. The devil's attacking us. We're looking at this impossible situation. And we're saying there's no hope. But the Lord comes along and says, I want you to lift your head. And I want you to get your eyes on Jesus. Because he's the one that will come to your rescue. He's the one that will deliver you.

He's the one that will meet your every need. He's already got a good plan. And you just got to surrender to you. Come on, somebody praise the Lord with me today. Yeah. Every time you start looking at the circumstances, you're going to go down. Corey Tinboom said this. And I quote, if you look at the world, Let me know that's your place to be. People ask, how are you doing? People say, I'm doing so, so good. You're so far so good under the circumstances. But God never intended you to be under the circumstances. He wants you to be on top of the circumstances. He wants you to be more than overcomer because what? If God be what for us, who can be against us? So he wants us to be on top. He wants to be victorious. Circumstances are kind of like a mattress. You get on top, you rest easy, you get underneath, and you suffocate. You'll remember at least that one line, maybe. You may forget everything else, but Peter looked around. I asked the question, what had changed? Nothing had changed. Same waves, same storms, same darkness, same boat, same Jesus, same Peter. One moment he's walking the next one, he's sinking. What's the difference? What he's looking at? What caused him to look around? Was it his pride? Could have been? Peter could have swelled up and said, "Man, it's pretty cool. Look what I'm doing." You know? Well, I'm the only one out here. Those other guys are in the boat. Hey, guys, look at this. You know, I'm doing great. I'm really spiritual. I'm really victorious. Could have been that. Could have been pride. But what about the people in the boat, the other 11 disciples? They still think this is a ghost because it's the end of the story of when they get their revelation of who this is. So they're terrified, the Bible says. And when they see Peter going to, I mean, no, Peter was always doing something, okay? And when they see Peter going to go overboard, don't you know they were hollering at him? Peter, no, no, Peter, don't. They thought he's committing suicide. No, Peter, come back. Don't do that. You can't do that. You can't do that. These people in the boat are saying you can't do that. I call them the boat people, okay? The boat people are telling you, you can't do that. You can't trust in Jesus. You can't take

a risk, you know? You're not going to be able to do that. Let me know. We never need to listen to the boat people. The boat people that are naysayers and negative and full of unbelief and saying it can't be done. And Peter, Peter's not going to listen to them. He's listening to the Lord. You've got a choice. Who are you going to listen to? The naysayers and the negative crowd, the people of the world, you're going to listen to Jesus. Stop trying to figure it all out. The Bible says in Proverbs, "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding." You can't figure it out. If you want to change your life, you change your focus. If you're spending more time looking at social media than in the Bible, then you're going to be sinking. If you're spending more time listening to people in the world than listening to the Lord, you're in trouble. If you're spending more time watching the news, then spending time in his presence, then fear is going to take over instead of faith. You need to recognize I've got to keep my eyes on Jesus. I don't know what to do, but Jesus does. I'll keep my eyes on Him. Amen. So welcome Jesus, obey Jesus, focus on Jesus. He's the X factor. That leads us to number four. Trust in Jesus. Trust in Jesus. Not in my boat, not in myself, not in it. I got to learn to trust in Jesus. Don't doubt because Jesus is greater. Peter prayed, "Save me, Lord." And immediately Jesus reached out His hand. This is in Matthew 14, 31. He reached out His hand and caught Him and said, "You have little faith." He said, "Why did you doubt?" Now notice He didn't say no faith. He said little faith. Jesus is saying it only took a little faith to walk on the water. You don't need great faith. It's not the size of your faith. It's the size of your God. Put a little faith in a great God. Put a little faith in the great I am and see what He will do. What is faith? It's something you do. You've got to get out of the boat. You've got to leave your comfort zone. You've got to leave what you're trusting and say, "Lord, I'm going to trust in you totally and completely." What are you trusting in today? Because you've got to remember Jesus is greater than your storms. Jesus is greater than your storms. Praise God even in the storm. You can either worry or worship. You can panic or pray. You can tremble or trust. You can have fear or have faith. When you get to the end of the story in Matthew, Matthew 14 verse 32 says, "When Jesus climbed into the boat, the wind died down." I want you to look for three miracles here. There's actually three miracles. The first one is Jesus gets in the boat. Storm stops immediately. Wind stops everything. Calm. Perfect peace happened immediately. Then John and Mark tell us not only did the storm

the boat reached the shore where they were heading. And Matthew says same thing, it crossed over and landed. So the destination, if they'd been working nine hours to get there, and if it'd been with no storm, it'd have been two hours, immediately they're there. That's the power of God, folks. Stop the storm immediately. Get you to your destination. The devil's telling you that you're never gonna get there. But God says, I'm gonna get you there. There's no storm from the pit of hell that can stop you from doing God's will for your life. Whatever his will is, he will enable you with his power to accomplish his will. Amen? Hallelujah, hallelujah. And the last thing is finally the boat people, they came around. In verse 33, then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying truly, truly, you are the Son of God. When you're in a storm, you just gotta get your eyes off of the impossibility. And you've gotta get your eyes on Jesus. And what we really need is an objective revelation of who God is, 'cause when you recognize how big, how great, how awesome, how powerful God is, then your faith says, okay, God, it's in your control. I can't do any name, but you can. And so what happened to these other disciples is they went from thinking this was a ghost

to just a man, this is the Son of God. This is who this is. So I wanna use every letter of the alphabet, is that okay? There's so many names of God in the Old Testament, New Testament, let's look at 26 letters in the alphabet, is that right? Let's look at 26 names of the Lord that use every letter of the alphabet. Here we go, first of all, who is Jesus? Who is this one in the storm? Who is this one that stopped the storm and got them where they needed to be? Well, first of all, he's my advocate. And he's the bread of life. He's the chief cornerstone. He's my deliverer, my Emmanuel, my fortress, my good shepherd. He's the head of the church. He is the I Am, my joy, the king of kings, the Lamb of God and the Lord of Lord, somebody say amen. He's the master, the Nazarene, the only wise God, the Prince of Peace, the quickening spirit. He's my refuge and my Savior, the truth, the undefeated Son of God, the victorious Lord, the wisdom of God. He is the X factor. He's the yes and the amen and the zenith of all creation. Somebody praise the Lord. (congregation applauding) When I fall, he lifts me up.

When I fail, he forgives me. When I'm weak, he is strong. When I'm lost, he is the way. When I'm afraid, he's my courage. When I stumble, he steadies me. When I am hurt, he heals me. When I'm broken, he mends me. When I'm blind, he leads me. When I'm hungry, he feeds me. When I face trials, he is with me. When I face persecution, he shields me. He is my God. He is always faithful. I am his and he is mine. God said it and that settles it. God's in control, I'm on his side and that means all is well with my soul. Every day is a blessing 'cause God is. I am more than a conquer because my God is the great I am and if God is for us, who can be against us? Come on, give God praise right now. (congregation applauding) Hallelujah, hallelujah. Come on, stand on your feet. Lift both hands to the Lord and say, Lord, I'm in a storm. I'm about to go in a storm. Lord, I need you. I don't understand, nothing makes sense. But Lord, I'm gonna welcome you.

Lord, I'm gonna obey you. I'm gonna keep my focus on you. I'm gonna put my trust in you 'cause you are the X factor. You make the difference, Lord. You are the one that will work, Lord. What's meant for evil and harm, you will turn to good. You will do it 'cause you are the all powerful, all wise, all knowing. Almighty God, the God of miracles. Lord, I need a miracle. If you need a miracle, just praise the Lord right now and say, Lord, I need a miracle from you. I need a miracle from you. Let me ask the important question, that is, do you, know Jesus as your savior? Are you ready for heaven? Are you putting your trust in him? And if you're not ready and you wanna accept Christ, it's not a religious thing. We're gonna lead you in a prayer in a moment. We're not gonna embarrass you or bring you forward. But it's not the prayer itself, it's your faith in the words of the prayer. When you prayed from your heart, Jesus will come into your life. When you welcome him, he will come in. When you open the door, he will come in. Sunday. This is the time when I'm going to make a new commitment, a new dedication and put him first because I can't get out of this mess, this storm I'm in without his help. I need him. I put him first. I'm going to seek him. So I'm going to count to three and I'm going to ask you to raise

your hand so that I can see who we're praying for right there at your seat. And then we're all going to pray this prayer together. And as you pray this prayer from your heart and meet it Jesus is going to come into your life and make a difference. So everyone here as well as those watching on the live stream will count to three and I want you to raise your hand and leave it up until I can see all the hands. Are you ready? One, two, three. Come on. Lift your hand high and say yes to Jesus. Yes. Yes. I see one. I see two. I see three, four, five, six, seven. Hallelujah. Eight, nine, ten, eleven. At least 12 people. Come on. Praise God for the response. Now everybody pray this prayer out loud and a loud voice. Let's all repeat this prayer. And if you raise your hand, even if you didn't, you know if you need to pray this prayer, pray it to Jesus and know he's going to make the difference in your life. So repeat after me. Say Lord Jesus, I believe you're the Son of God. I believe you died on the cross and you were raised from the dead. So I give you my heart. I give you my life. I confess all my sins to you. And by faith I accept your free gift of eternal life. I put you first. I'm going to love you. Keep my eyes on you and follow you. Thank you for the victory, Lord. In Jesus name, come on everybody. Praise the Lord this morning. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Worship team is going to come back and sing a song. We're going to close like this. Prayer team, would you come immediately and stand here at the front? If you need a miracle in your life or you know somebody that needs a miracle and you want to stand in for them, I want you to step out by faith. It took faith for Peter to step out of the boat. You exercise your faith by walking down the aisle, letting somebody pray with you. And we're going to believe God for miracles today. As you come, let's worship the Lord and let's trust God to do the miracles. Amen. ♪ What a beautiful name it is ♪ ♪ The name of Jesus Christ, my ♪ ♪ What a beautiful name it is ♪ ♪ Nothing from Christ, the name is you ♪ ♪ What a beautiful name it is ♪ ♪ The name of Jesus ♪ ♪ What a beautiful name it is ♪ ♪ What a beautiful name it is ♪

♪ The name of Jesus Christ, my ♪ ♪ What a beautiful name it is ♪ ♪ No nothing confess it is ♪ ♪ What a beautiful name it is ♪ ♪ The name of Jesus ♪ ♪ What a beautiful name it is ♪ ♪ The name of Jesus ♪ If you prayed this prayer for the first time today, I want to tell you I'm so proud of you because this is the best decision it can mean in your whole life, because it's having Jesus in your heart. Please let us pray with you. If you need any prayer, you can just come to the front, but let us as a church walk this journey of faith with you today. So if you would, please, if you get your phone and text the word Jesus to 51010 and we have connect corners in front of the tab, in front of your chairs, we want to get you connected and know the next step that you have in your journey, amen. And just a reminder, this, this Sunday in the lobby, we have leaders from life groups. This is one of the next steps when you get here connected at church. Please come and if you need to find a group or get connected, come in the corner, get a cookie, and we would love to talk and connect with you, amen. Let's, let's pray together. Lord, thank you for this morning. We thank you for your presence. We thank you, Lord, because you're good God. We just bless this week. We bless all the, all of this word that can make a fruit in our hearts, Lord, knowing that you are God with us, despite the circumstance and the storms. We love you. We bless (music) (gentle music) (gentle music)