Week 1 | Step Out into the Miracle | Shawn Williams

Imagine that moment in Matthew chapter 14 where Peter stands on the edge of that boat. It's in the middle of a storm. There's chaos all around him. And through the winds and the waves, he sees this figure that's coming closer. It's Jesus. Peter had followed Jesus this far. He was the first to calling Messiah. He had seen miracles with his own eyes. And now he calls out from that boat, "Lord, if it's you, tell me to come." And Jesus says that one word, come. The wild thing? Peter actually did it. Peter stepped out of that boat and onto the water. He walked on water toward Jesus through the storm and experienced this incredible miracle. He had seen Jesus do miracles before. And he was confident that Jesus could do it again. You know, as a church, we're standing at that same edge, 50 years of God's faithfulness behind us. In a world in front of us, it sometimes looks incredibly chaotic. But it's aching for people who follow Jesus with passion and purpose. The potential for miracles is certainly ahead of us. We hear Jesus saying the same word that he said to Peter, come. And that's why we're launching this step-out initiative.

It builds on everything we've always been. And it allows us to reimagine everything that we can become. It comes down to these four pursuits. First, we want to be the kind of church that steps out to build his church. We see this happening by investing in campus growth and expansion. We'll strengthen our current campuses and we'll fuel new ones through permanent homes, improved environments, and strategic launches. We want to be relentless about loving Chicago land into life with Jesus. And we know that we need to widen our reach and create compelling, inviting spaces so that people can experience his transforming love. Next, we want to be the kind of church that steps out to make disciples. Jesus didn't say go make converts. He says he wanted us to make disciples of all nations. So we're committed to reaching new people and helping them grow deep in the relationship with him. We're establishing clear discipleship pathways that build on the rooted rhythms and utilize technology to dive into scripture and spiritual practices, equipping people their gifts, and form followers who know Jesus and are committed to build his kingdom. Then we want to be the kind of church that steps out to love our neighbors.

Did you know that one in five households in Chicago land faces food and security? Did you know that people drive from as far as Southern Wisconsin in Northwest Indiana to visit our care center? I mean, imagine what would happen if we didn't wait for people to come to us, but we actually went to them. We're responding to the tangible needs of our neighbors with gospel-centered compassion that restores dignity and offers holistic support through care center hubs, building sustainability and revealing the tangible love of Jesus along the way. Finally, we want to be the kind of church that steps out for the next generation. Every kid in our ministries, every student in a small group, every young adult figuring out who they're becoming, they are the church right now, and they'll be the church for the next 50 years. And so we want to enhance our environments, we want to deepen their experience, we want to create a leadership development engine that forms future leaders with character and calling. We believe the ways that we pour into our young people will create a ripple effect that will be measured for years and years and years to come. Step out is truly a God-sized vision. Honestly, it's bigger than we can pull off on our own, which is exactly the point.

Because so was stepping out onto that water. Can you imagine what would happen if we all answered Jesus' call to come? I mean, look around, our neighbors need help, our city needs hope, our friends need healing. And I believe that together, we can build Jesus' kingdom in Chicago land as we step out in faith and step into our future together. (audience applauds) I have never been more excited nor convinced of where God's leading us to next as a church. Really for the past 18 months, our staff leadership team, alongside of our elders, have really been pursuing God to say, "God, what do you have next for us as a church?" Is so 18 months of pursuing God, 18 months of prayer, 18 months of preparation. And here we are, As we're really excited to be on the- You're gonna hear a lot more about this vision in the coming weeks. But I would argue that what happens in the next six weeks of our church will define who we become for the next five to six years. I would argue that the next six messages that I get the opportunity to deliver are gonna be the six most important messages that I've delivered here at Willow. And notice what I didn't say.

I didn't say that they were the best messages. I said the most important messages. 'Cause I think that what God wants to do, even before he does something through us as a church, I actually think that God wants to do something in us as a church. And that's what we've been prayerfully considering for 18 months leading up to this time. Now for the next six weeks together, we're gonna be looking at the character of Peter. One of Jesus' more relatable disciples. I love Peter in so many different ways. He was, he's so human. There's so many things that he got so right. You can argue that Peter was the standout disciple. He was kind of the, he was the kid in the class that always raised his hand. But as many amazing moments that you find in Peter's life, he was also the biggest knucklehead in moments. As I say what I think it makes him so relatable is he got it so right and he got it so wrong oftentimes in the very same stories. But yet what is undeniable as you walk through Peter's life is the radical transformation he experienced by walking closely with Jesus. And so that's our prayer. It's the same God that transformed Peter's life. It's the same God who wants to transform your life and transfer mine as well. And so this journey really is this formational journey

that God wants to do something in us. And as he does something in us, he prepares us for the work that he will ultimately do through us. Now throughout this series, we've got a companion resource that looks just like this that we wanna get in every single person's hands. This is a fantastic resource. In the front part of the resource, you'll see a little bit more detail around the vision. We'll talk about it on the weekends. There's a lot more detail around the vision here. You'll also see some daily devotional. Five days of daily devotions for each week of the series. It gives us a chance to carve out some time every day, spend some time with the Lord, really opening up our heart to them. There's also group guides in here. I would say that the best way to experience Step Out is to experience Step Out in a group. We have over 4,000 people in Step Out groups across all of our locations, which is awesome. I would call that maybe a modern day miracle, getting 4,000 people to do anything in the same direction is pretty remarkable. And so it's amazing what's already happening. If you're not yet in a Step Out group and you want to be in a Step Out group, we would love to have you. There is still room in all of our locations.

After the service, go to the next step area at your campus. There's somebody there who can help you jump in one of those groups. So again, regardless if you're in a group or not in a group, we want you to have this resource. Our groups have already started, so many of you already have this book. If you're not in a group or not able to join a group, we're gonna give this to you on your way out. I would hold this, dive into it, open yourself up to it, bring it back every week with you. There's even a page where you can take notes during the sermon, and you're like, "Shawn, I don't take notes during the sermon." Well, maybe you'll be converted to a sermon note taker in the series, but it occurs you to really lean into it. Now, as a part of this, we've got two goals. And when I say the two goals, one is way more of a priority than the other, but they're certainly connected together. The first goal we would say with this series is it's a spiritual goal. Again, what God wants to form in us is what is most important. And if we journey with him, I think that God will form in us this opportunity to become more faithful, to become more prayerful, to become more dependent, to become more trusting, to have greater courage. I think that God wants to form something significant in us.

So I would say the first goal is a spiritual goal. We will measure it by what we would say, 100% participation. Here's what that means. I want you for the next six weeks to be committed. Would you commit to coming here every single week for the next six weeks? Would you commit to your group? Would you commit to jumping in and into the devotionals? Because I think what God wants to form in us, and so the most important goal is the spiritual goal. And so I wanna say, would you commit yourself fully to it? The second goal is a financial goal. At the very end of this series, we are believing God to be able to respond and to give a gift to God in such a way that these dreams that he asked for us as a church can be resourced and they can come to reality. Now, I call that the secondary goal, and here's why. That is not the point. The point is actually the formation actually leads to a more surrendered heart, a more faith-filled experience, a more trusting environment, and the gift becomes a by-product of the work that God is doing in our life. And so we're gonna challenge us as a church at the end of the series, week six, November the 8th. We're gonna talk about a two feet on the water, bold, faith-filled commitment that really allows this vision to become a reality.

Now, once you look at the resource materials, it's gonna share with you all this detail, and it shares with you an actual financial goal number. Now, I'm gonna tell you the number. You're gonna gasp, I'm gonna explain it, and you're gonna be okay. You ready? All right, the financial target is a hundred million dollar target over the course of two years. You didn't even gasp. You can gasp. There you go, well done. But let me kind of frame it out for us. It's not a hundred million in addition to what our normal ties and offerings are. It is actually inclusive of those normal ties and offerings. So what we would typically see over the course of all of our locations, roughly 15,000 people who call our church home, what we would anticipate over a two-year time period is roughly in the neighborhood of $56 million given, 28 each year. Is what we're believing God for is an additional 44 million that allows us to fuel these kingdom-expanding initiatives that will really serve people and transform lives all across the Chicagoland and all around the globe. But don't miss this. It is not about a transaction.

It is about spiritual transformation. Now let me speak to a couple of groups of people real quick. First, we have some brand new guests that are here. People here from the very first time today, let's welcome our first time guests. Great to have you. And you're thinking to yourselves, what in the world did I just walk into? Here's what I want you to hear from me right out of the gates. You're our guest. There is zero pressure to give in any capacity. We are just so glad you're here. My encouragement for you, if you're new around here, just lean in. Seek God with us. I think the formation side of the journey will really bless you. And if you join us for the next six weeks, I think that you'll get a snapshot of who we are as a church, what makes our heartbeat fast, what we're believing God for. And so I think it's an incredible time to be around here, but please feel absolutely no pressure whatsoever. Second piece, let me talk to another group of people who I think are experiencing incredible financial distress. According to our own survey data, suggest that about 2% to 3% of our congregation literally is making decisions of whether I'm gonna pay the electric bill or whether I'm gonna put food on the table. That's a reality for people who call our church home. If that's where you're at, hear me clearly. Call us.

Let us help you put food on your table. It's who we are. You matter to us. It's why the care center exists is to come alongside of people at their hardest moments. (audience applauding) It's so please, please, please hear me. This series is not about what we get from people. This is what I believe that God wants to do for all of us. Because here's what I also believe. Sometimes those who have the least amount of financial resources often are the most generous people. Because generosity is not measured by a number. It's always measured by a heart. Let me give you an example. Many of you know that we have a part of our church that meets in the Jefferson City Correctional Center. Big shout out to our brothers who join us at the Jefferson City Correctional Center. They're with us right here in this morning. Now, as you would imagine, those who join us are part of our community at JCCC. They don't have access to significant financial means. Now some are able to work some jobs and they're able to earn a little bit of income. Some have a little bit of outside help. So if they need to purchase something like soap or toothpaste or shampoo or those types of things, they have a little bit of means to do so. But not every guy there has access

to those kinds of means. So our leadership at JCCC approached us not too long ago and they said, "Hey, Sean, what do you think about us "taking up an offering?" I'm like, "I don't know, tell me more." They said, "Well, there's just guys "that don't have access to some of these things "because they don't have the resources. "What if we pass an offering bag "and guys donated some soap and extra shampoo "and toothbrushes and toothpaste "and then we set up our own care center "to serve other incarcerated individuals?" And I'm like, "That's amazing." So for the past few weeks, they've been doing just that. Well done. Right? Because generosity is not measured by a number. It's measured by the size of your heart. What I'm praying for and believing God for is that God would grow our heart. He would expand our heart, because the overflow of that is giving. The focus is not a transaction. It's on transformation. So really over the next six weeks, 80% of what I'm gonna talk about, it's all about formation. There's about 20% that I'll talk about the financial commitment, 'cause I want you to know it's coming.

I don't want you to be surprised by it. I want you to have clarity around it. And I am gonna challenge you to have a two feet out of the boat, kind of faith-filled type of commitment out of the overflow of what God has done in our lives. Make sense? We ready? All right. Meet me in Matthew chapter 14. What an incredible story this is. Our entire series is kind of based on this narrative. Matthew chapter 14, let me give you some context. It immediately follows Jesus feeding 5,000 people from some little boys sack lunch. What a remarkable thing that would have been to witness. And so Peter, along with the other disciples, they were the ones that got to distribute the food and pick up the food. They got to witness this firsthand. It would have been an amazing moment. Now I would imagine they were on cloud nine. They're high five on each other. What an amazing experience. And then immediately following the feeding of the 5,000, here's what Jesus does. He says, immediately, Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go out ahead of him to the other side while he dismissed these crowds that he had just fed. After he dismissed them, he went up on a mountain side by himself to pray.

Later that night, he was there alone and the boat was already a considerable distance from the land buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. And so Jesus feeds the 5,000 people. This amazing miracle. The first thing that he does is you get the sense from Jesus, he's like, Jesus needs a little me time. And so he sends his disciples out into a boat while he was gonna go up on a mountain side of prey. Now, if you read it at face value, it kind of messes with you a little bit. It says that Jesus made his disciples get into this boat. Now the original language is even more emphatic than that. It's almost like he commanded them. He wouldn't take no for an answer. That is what they were gonna do. Now, think about that for a moment because you have God himself incarnate who knew what was coming. And so Jesus made them get into a boat that he knew was gonna take them into a storm. That messes with my theology a little bit because I would expect if you walk in obedience to what God asks you to do, that should help you avoid the storms, right? At least that's the way I typically think. I think like I get the storm because I was disobedient. Like if I've done something wrong, I get that my life's gonna find itself

in a storm full of consequences that I likely created. Or I understand that sometimes I find myself in a storm because of other people's disobedient choices and I have the implications of what they happen. So I've got theology that makes sense of that, but to say that I'm in the storm because I was obedient, that's sometimes hard for me to reconcile because deep down I want to believe if I obey Jesus, my life gets easier. It does not. Let me clarify it. I do think following Jesus always makes life better. (audience applauds) But I think oftentimes following Jesus rarely makes life easier. Oftentimes when you actually obediently do what Jesus asks you to do, you find yourself in out of your comfort zone types of experiences. Things that don't feel as safe, things that don't feel as secure because it's actually in those out of your comfort zone moments that God does his most formative work in our lives. Following Jesus will always make your life better, but it rarely makes your life easier. And so because of that, I would say this. Just because you're in a storm doesn't mean that you're outside of the will of God. You can be in the middle of the will of God

and in the middle of a storm at the same time. Still choose him. Now think about how this plays out. they're out on the boat. Bible describes that they've been out there literally for hours. Jesus is now up on a mountain side. Now the lake that they're describing is called the Sea of Galilee. Does anybody ever bend the Sea of Galilee? They're like a handful of people. It's a decent sized body of water, not massive, not Lake Michigan big. You can see from one side to the other side. And so if you think about the picture that creates, if Jesus goes up on the mountain side, he can actually see the disciples in the storm, though they can't see him. I think as you wrestle with that, it actually creates a couple different perspectives of what it's like to be in the storm. If you look at it from the lens of the disciples, again, they're out in the middle of this body of water. They're being rocked back and forth. The waves are coming over the bow of the boat. They're rowing as fast as they can, and they're not going anywhere because the wind's too strong. And it kind of feels like if Jesus was just here, he'd do something about it. And sometimes if we're not careful, in the middle of the storm, we can actually start blaming God

for the situation that we're in. We can think to ourselves, "God, how could you leave me "out here alone?" It's almost like you don't even care that I'm working multiple jobs as a single parent trying to provide for my kids and having a hard time making ends meet. It almost feels like you don't even care that I face this diagnosis. While my kids are still young, it just doesn't make any sense. And sometimes in the middle of the storm, when you're in the storm and Jesus is not physically present, it almost can feel at times that God has abandoned us and God is not with us. Have you ever felt that way? I think that you're in good company that had to have been the feel of what it was like to be in the boat that day. So let me give you a different perspective. A different perspective is some distance away. Jesus is up on this mountainside and he's looking down. He can see the disciples in the storm. So from the perspective of the disciples, it feels like Jesus is not present both from from the perspective of Jesus. He never lost sight of their situation, that they were never outside of his watchful eye or a sovereign hand. He had never abandoned them.

And so I would say this, you may be going through a storm, but you are never out of the sight of your savior. I don't know what's going on in your world. I don't know what you're facing. And I know sometimes it feels so incredibly tough and you feel all alone. I just want you to know that God has never left you. You are never outside of the watchful eye in the sovereign hand of your savior. (congregation applauding) Here's what it says next. Shortly before dawn, Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. Now, don't let the familiarity of the story. Just allow that to wash over you. Jesus is strolling on H2O. This is when the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. No kidding, I'd be terrified too. It's a ghost, they said, and cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus said to them, "Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid." I mean, I love the detail that these guys who've been out there fighting the winds and the waves for hours, and Jesus just kind of starts strolling his way. Now, notice what it doesn't say. It doesn't say that Jesus ran to them. It doesn't say that Jesus raced in their direction. You get the sense that he was calm, unhurried, unsurprised, walking on the very thing

that threatened to drown them. Here's the reality that we need to grapple with. That sometimes in life, it feels like the winds and waves are almost overwhelming for whatever challenge that we're facing. But I want you to know this, whatever it is that you're sinking in, Jesus is walking on. (audience applauding) He's got authority over anything that this world will throw at us. That there's nothing too big or too great that's outside of his sovereign hand. Whatever you're sinking in, he's the one that's walking on. And so he says, these three things, he says, "Take courage," and I love that statement. And he's like, "Reach out and grab the courage." Like, "Season, own it." And he says, "It is I," which is a statement about his divinity. And then he says, "Do not fear." Whatever it is that we're facing, we serve a God who's bigger than anything else that we will ever face. So don't let the wind of the waves trick you that just because it feels out of control does not mean that He is out of control. Here's what it says next. It says, "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied. "Tell me to come to you on the water." "Come," he said. Now this is a head scratcher moment for me because he sees Jesus. They were afraid. He hears him say, "Take courage. It is I. Don't be afraid." And then these are the first moments that somebody is going to respond to this water-walking Jesus in front of him. Of all the questions Peter could have asked. I'm surprised this is his question.

I'm surprised he didn't ask, "Jesus, can you make the wind stop?" Like, "Jesus, can you make sure that the waves don't come over the boat anymore?" But that's not what he asks. The question is, "Jesus, if it's you, tell me to come and I will come." What an unbelievable, faith-filled type of moment that was. But if you think about that in the moment, there were 12 guys in the boat. 11 of them were going to stay in that boat. There was only one who was willing to take this crazy faith step and becoming the only other person in all of human history to become a water-walking himself. Now before we follow Peter's journey out on the water, let's talk about the boat for just a moment. Again, there were 11 or the 12 disciples that day, 11, I picture a white knuckle gripped to the illusion of safety that was that boat. It caused me to pause and at least ask the question as it relates to you and me, "What do we look to for safety and security if for comfort in our life other than God?" What are the things that we almost like hold onto, almost white knuckle we hold onto? What are the things that we have a hard time abandoning in order to take a step of faith that God might be calling us to? There's all kinds of things in this life that we look to for safety and security. For some of us, it's a savings account. Maybe it's a 401(k). We look to our careers, we look to our reputation. There's all kinds of things that we hold on to give us some sort of sense of safety and security in our lives. If you ever want to know what your boat is, maybe here's how to think through it. What is it that causes you to experience fear to let go of or to surrender in order to take a step of faith? Whatever's behind that fear is a good indication of what the boat is. But let's all be on the same page about this. The miracle does not happen in the boat. It never has.

It never will. John Orberg said it this way, "If you're going to walk on water, you've got to get out of the boat." And so the faith-filled moments, the moments of God doing some of His greatest work are actually outside of the boat. Now, notice what happened in this exchange between Peter and Jesus. He says, "Jesus, if it's you, tell me to come, and I will come." In other words, Peter was not just standing on water. He was standing on the very word of Jesus. Now, here's why that matters is I think that sometimes there's a fine line between faith and foolishness. Because sometimes at faith value, they look pretty similar because big faith steps feel so illogical. It feels like so crazy. It feels like so absurd. How do you discern whether something is a step of faith or a step of foolishness? The only difference, one stands in the foundation of God's Word, the other doesn't. I want to be really clear that in a few weeks from now, we're going to ask people to consider like a bold step out of the boat, like two feet on the water, faith-filled commitment. But I am not asking anybody to take a foolish step. I want people to consider taking a faith step. So how do you discern that? That's why the next six weeks matter. I want to spend six weeks seeking the Lord, understanding, listening to what He's saying, wrestling through things because I don't want to take a step out if it's not taking a step out on God's Word. I will never ask you to do anything other than whatever it is that God's asking you to do. Steps of faith is what we're calling to. A step to faith is what we are going to do. And then the moment comes, I love this, first 29, this is then Peter stepped out of the boat and onto the water and began walking toward Jesus. I mean, I have a hard time wrapping my head around this moment. Peter was a fisherman, like he knew these seas.

He probably knew men that had died on that water. And yet he almost feels the fear and takes the step anyway. I remember it was about a year ago, I had this opportunity to run my first and only ultra marathon. It was in South Africa, it's a race called comrades, it's the largest and oldest ultra marathon in the world. Like 30,000 people running 56 miles through the hill-filled route from Peter Merrittsburg to Durban, South Africa. It's an amazing experience. One that I don't think I'll ever do again, but it was an amazing experience. But I remember that night before we towed that start line, there was eight of us together, we were all running it to support world vision and we were running it to raise money to create some clean water opportunities for young kids around the world. And I remember we gathered together for dinner, it was kind of our last free race meal, if you will. And as we gathered around, the conversation really turned to fear and like some of the anxieties that we were all feeling and the fear of the unknown of what we were about to step into. And as all these adults around the table, we're talking about their fears, one of the guys who was running,

his 10-year-old son was with him. And into this conversation about fear, this 10-year-old says to all of us adults, he says, "Hey, if you can't overcome your fear, do it scared." And I'm like, "Who asked you?" (audience laughs) I'm just kidding. It actually really spoke to me. I held onto that all 56 miles. It's actually really, really challenging. It's almost like if you can't overcome the fear, do it scared. It's like feel the fear and do it anyway. I mean, that had to have been Peter in that moment, this incredible, not just dip your toe in the water, like two feet out of the boat, like full of faith this moment was. This is my question that I wanted to rest with all throughout the series is, is what is God calling you to do? What doesn't, out of your comfort zone, faith-filled step look like for you? Because if you're gonna walk on water, you gotta get out of the boat. The greatest miracles in the world don't happen in the boat. They never have. Here's how the story concludes. It says, "But when they saw the wind," I'm sorry, "but when he saw the wind,

he was afraid, beginning to sink. He cried out, "Lord, save me." Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him and he says, "You of little faith," he said. Why did you doubt? And so here's Peter, it takes this amazing step out of faith. And then he gets out on this water. I imagine he wasn't cool and calm and collected. I imagine he's pretty wobbly out there for him. And it didn't take too long before he started looking at the winds and waves and doubts started creeping in and he began to sink. Have you ever been there? Like a moment that you had genuine, big, significant faith and you took this huge step of faith and it didn't take long before doubt creeped in? That's Peter. Now, candidly, I'm a little offended on Peter's behalf of Jesus' words to him. Where Jesus says, "You of little faith." Why do you doubt? I'm like, "Jesus, little faith." If Peter's walking on water faith is little faith, I'm in trouble. Here's a different way to look at it. I don't think that Jesus' comments is about the magnitude of his faith. Peter's faith. I don't know that you could describe a greater magnitude of faith than what Peter displayed.

It's that the little faith was not about the magnitude of faith, it was about the duration of his faith. Peter didn't have a small faith. He had a short one and I find it very relatable. But what God was trying to form in him was this, as he was not called to a moment of faith, he was called to a life of faith. And I think in many ways, that is also the same for you and I, that we're not just called to a single moment of radical faith and obedience, were called to a life that And sometimes the doubts do creep in, but notice what happens. The moment that Peter begins to sink, Jesus says immediately reached out and grabbed his hand. I love that 'cause sometimes we think that if we doubt, then maybe somehow God will turn his back on us, or God will kind of leave us hanging. No, it's actually quite the opposite. When doubt creeped in, Jesus immediately went for him. 'Cause Jesus cares a lot about him, but it was working to form this faith that was still being formed. The reality is that the call of Jesus is not to a moment of faith. It's called to a life of faith. You know, throughout this step-out initiative, I've had the privilege and the opportunity to sit down with some of our long, long term willow attendees.

People have been around this place for 50 plus years. We are gifted to have a lot of those people who still call willow home. And I'm telling you, we have some spiritual giants around this place. It's amazing. (audience applauding) And I think about this group of people, and I would describe them this way. They are people with incredible magnitude to their faith, but also people with incredible duration to their faith. There are people because they've been around here for 50 years that they've been a part of initiatives like this at willow, some three, four, five, six, seven times, right? And as I sat down with some of our long term attendees, and I've got to wrestle a little bit with this, when I heard a few different times, it was so encouraging to me. They said, Sean, we are as excited about where God is taking us next to church as we were 50 years ago when we launched this church to begin with. I was really encouraged by that. (audience applauding) I was also encouraged to hear them say, we are no less committed to see this vision come to fruition than we were 50 years ago. And so that's the way to see the magnitude of faith and the duration of faith.

And that's what God's wanting to cultivate in us. And so even when we get to the financial commitment, that's why it's a two year commitment. We could do kind of a one time thing, but what God wants to do is to cultivate something in us over the course of time, it's magnitude and duration. Here's how the story ends. It says, when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down, and those who were in the boat worshiped him saying, truly you are the son of God. I mean, I love this because ultimately, that was the point of the whole story to begin with. Do you remember back when Jesus was just simply like walking toward them, not running, like walking? You know why? Because this was never a rescue mission. This was always about a revelation. Is that them seeing who Jesus really was? It was about their faith increasing. It was about them becoming more courageous. It was about boldness really coming in because that's what they were gonna need for what God was gonna call them ahead. And so they have this moment after this experience where they say, surely he is the son of God. Is that faith-filled experience built layer after layer after layer that shapes the life of who they would ultimately become. That's my prayer for our church. Again, the next six weeks, I think,

defines who we become for the next six years as a church. May God form in us, build our faith layer after layer after layer, may we see him for who he is. May God do a great work in us. So here's my challenge for this week. I wanna challenge you not to make a financial commitment this week, I don't want you to commit to a number. This week, I just want you to commit to a direction. And so I want you to, maybe I'll say this way, would you make a commitment to make a commitment? And here's what I mean by that. Would you commit for the next six weeks to be here every single week? Would you commit for the next six weeks to lean into the devotional content and really spend some time with the Lord's and God, what do you have for me and my family? Would you for the next six weeks show up at your small group and wrestle with things and encourage one another and cheer lead each other along the way? For the next six weeks, would we open ourselves up for God to do an incredible work in us even before God does an incredible work through us? Here's the reality, stepping out grows you in ways that staying seated never could. And so let's be the kind of church. It's not like the 11 that hold on to comfort and stay in the bow kind of gripping to this, let's be willing to step into

whatever it is that God's calling us to. I can promise you following Jesus, it's not always easy, but it's always better. Let's take that journey with him. (congregation applauding) Father God, we come before you. We're encouraged, we're challenged, by this amazing story in the book of Matthew chapter 14. God, I love leaning into Peter's life and seeing just the transformation that you made as he walked with you. And God, I believe that the same God that transformed Peter's life is the same God. He wants to transform my life and everybody's life is here. God, would you work in us? Would you mold us? Would you shape us? Would you help us become more prayerful, more faith-filled, more dependent, more trusting, more courageous, more bold, so that we can step in to whatever you're calling us to next to the church. God, we love you. We just ask for a powerful movement of your spirit. We pray that in Jesus' name. Amen.