Water Walkers: Accept Fear as the Price of Growth

2006019

Topic # 956 (trust in Jesus)

Introduction:

A.     As a congregation, we have been encouraged to use ’06 as a year to emphasize spiritual growth.

1.      we need to be raising the intensity of our spiritual life.

2.      Mt. 14:22-33 is the text of study today.

B.      Previous Lessons:

1.      discussed the need to step out in faith…and how we can be held back in doing so.

a)      apathy and distorted viewpoints lead to lifeless existences as Christians.

2.      step out in faith…knowing that there will be problems that come our way.

a)      it is when we step out that it may feel we are at our weakest, most vulnerable moment – but we have success through our complete & total dependence on Jesus.

C.     Mt. 14:28-33 – Peter joins Jesus in the sea.

1.      remember… these verses are a real-life, physical example of what happens all the time in our spiritual life.

2.      Peter joined Jesus in the water.  Jesus asks us to respond to Him as Peter did.

a)      are we prepared to respond to Jesus in this way?

b)      Christianity not about asking Jesus to get in the boat with us, it is about getting out of the boat & joining Jesus where He is….in the water!

D.    Spiritual life is rarely calm.

1.      When we are challenged spiritually…it is not always pleasant.

2.      fearful situations can and will come up.

3.      How do we respond?

 

I.  The disciples were clearly in a fearful situation.

A.     14:25-27 – the disciples are about to learn the greatest lesson they would ever receive – trusting Jesus during the storm.

B.      Disciples had lived with Jesus. They knew him in a personal & intimate manner.

1.      Yet…these verses indicated there was a moment they didn’t recognize Him.

2.      Consider their situation:

a)      caught up in the struggle of the moment.

b)      They see the raging and tossing waves.

c)      They hear wind, see lightning, feel the rain pelting down.

d)      They feel the threat of death…but…

e)      They didn’t recognize Jesus.

C.     They disciples knew Jesus as:

1.      the supplier of their needs.

2.      one who could work miracles.

3.      the teacher who spoke words of life & had power over the devil.

4.      But never having met Jesus in a storm, they didn’t recognize Him.

D.    Are we really any different?

1.      We see Jesus in our need for salvation & forgiveness.

2.      We see Jesus as the supplier of our needs.

3.      We trust Jesus as the one fills us with the hope of heaven

4.      But…when everything is falling apart, we often find it hard to see Jesus.

E.      In our darkest hours, we can forget He is nearby – even if things are really rough.

1.      We get caught up in the struggle of the moment.

2.      Our ship is tossing, it appears to be sinking, the winds are blowing…

3.      everything is going wrong, and it seems all hope is lost…

4.      and we forget that fear is a part of life and must be turned into an opportunity to grow; to develop trust in God.

 

II. We must learn to cope with our fears.

A.     Fear can be a destructive force that plagues all Christians at times.

1.      talking about fear in spiritual realm. It can destroy us if we yield to it.

B.      Fear is not of God.

1.      God is not the author of fear. He does not send fear upon His people. He makes all things. He sustains all things. He holds the key to all things. God knows no fear.

a)      what is there for God to fear?

b)      Psa. 62:11; Mt. 28:18 – why should we, His children, be fearful?

2.      How many of us can look back on our life & clearly see how God moved in our life in only a way that God could have?

3.      And yet…in the midst of the storm…we forget that…

4.      Consider Psa. 37:1-5, 23-26, 39-40

C.     If the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and if God upholds the good man with his hand, then He must be with us all the time!

1.      He is never far away!  We are never out of His sight!

2.      when all seems to be going wrong, He yet has control!

D.    For the disciples…that storm was just an act of nature, an unexpected disaster, an unwanted & unnecessary trial, and a lonely/fearful journey into despair. It was a night to be forgotten.

1.      only later would they look back on that night & realize it was a lesson to teach them about growth and trust in God.

2.      We have to go through trials, experience fear and when we do…

3.      Remember that God is there, not far from us.

4.      the fear we experience can teach us to grow and trust more in God.

 

III.  We must learn to resist the negative, the ghosts of life.

A.     Mt. 14:26 – not only did disciples fail to recognize Jesus, they thought Him to be a spirit,  a ghost, something imaginary/unreal.

1.      thought of Jesus being so near never entered their minds.

2.      when we fail to see Jesus and give into our fears – we begin to imagine what is not real at all.

B.      Normal anxiety/reasonable fear becomes compounded when we get carried away with wrong thinking.

1.      Disciples faced a new fear when they imagined ghosts – when they saw what was not, and failed to see what was.

2.      simple lesson here…Jesus wanted disciples to trust Him…at all times.

3.      to maintain faith, cheer, joy, peace – even in the darkest hour.

4.      this is what He wants of us.

5.      He does not want us to see ghosts, spirits, or imaginary things. He wants us to trust Him.

C.     We should not let fear push us into “wrong thinking.”

1.      ghost of wasted time?  How many times has unchecked fear paralyzed us to inaction in God’s kingdom?

2.      ghost of grudges? How many times has the overpowering fear of dealing with a broken relationship hinder our working together better with brethren?

3.      ghost of compromise? How many times has numbing fear held us back from standing on our convictions? Stand up for what is right!

4.      ghost of blame? How many times has fear caused us to blame God? Become bitter? Turn our back on Him?

D.    the storms we face are really where God is at work.

1.      He seeks to reveal Himself in His saving, keeping, and preserving power.

2.      the storm has a purpose. Js. 1:2-4; 4:7-8a, 1 Cor. 10:13; Heb. 13:5-6

3.      it is the price for growth. We must use it to build complete rest & trust in Jesus as a present help in time of trouble.

 

Conclusion:

A.     What have we learned today?

1.      we must learn to recognize Jesus under all circumstances.

2.      We must learn to cope with our fears, to handle them, rather than have them paralyze us.

a)      labor to see that fear is the price of growth.

b)      That we must see through the fear to God’s purpose in the situations of life.

3.      We must resist the negatives, the ghosts of life.

B.      God does not want His children to be filled w/anxiety & worry. He fills us with hope that He is there, and will always be there.  He will take care of His children.

C.     Are you His child? If not, why not?

D.    I N V I T A T I O N