Becoming A Water Walker

So we see that we must DISCOVER God’s presence in the church, we must DISCERN between God’s direction and foolishness, and we must DIVERSIFY, get out of our comfort zones and walk through the storm.

Peter did, he let go of a perfectly good boat, he abandon himself completely and trusted in Jesus, and suddenly for the first, and only time I know of, a perfectly ordinary human being is doing something extraordinary, he is walking on water. So many churches do this as well, they abadon their own planning, their own thoughts and desires and allow God to work through them and for a while they are “walking on water” but then IT HAPPENS. The scripture says that Peter “saw the wind.” Reality sets in, Peter ask himself, “Self, what am I doing out here?” He must have thought to himself, “Am I crazy? I got out of a perfectly good boat, to walk on this stormy water?” I know that churches encounter the same thing, they are going along well, they have stepped outside the comfort zone, they are growing, they are doing God’s will, they have DIVERSIFIED. And then they realize, “THERE IS A STORM OUT THERE!” It becomes time to DEFEND! Yes, it might be safer to just stay where you are and never do anything that might rock the boat and shake things up, but I guarantee that if you don’t shake things up and DIVERSIFY you will never grow.

You can live on bland food so as to avoid an ulcer, drink no tea or coffee or any other stimulants in the name of good health, you can go to bed early and avoid those late night work sessions, you can avoid all controversial subjects so you don’t offend, mind your own business, spend money ONLY on yourself and your needs. Be frugal and safe and you could still break your neck getting out of the bathtub and it would serve you right. If you step out of your comfort zone, IT WILL BE STORMY, but we must realize God never said it would be easy. DEFEND yourself against the attacks of Satan, DEFEND yourself against those that say it’s not worth it, DEFEND yourself from those that say, “let’s just stay safe and secure and never grow.”

Baseball players who step to the plate usually get a hit one out of three times, that means two times out of three they are out, BUT, they can never hit a home-run if they don’t step to the plate. Churches will miss the mark many times as well, BUT if they do nothing at all, they are guaranteed to get NOTHING in return. If they fear change and therefore decide to never try, they will never grow, and then there will be change, the change however, will be closing the doors.

Change and discomfort go together like macaroni and cheese! It’s a package deal and we must DEFEND ourselves from the fear, and the desire to be comfortable.

DISCOVER, DISCERN, DIVERSIFY, DEFEND,, & DECIDE.

This brings us close to the end of the sermon, it brings us to the place where we must DECIDE. You know what the best selling chair in America is? The LA-Z-BOY! Yup, not they Risk-E-boy, or the Work-R-boy, NO, the La-Z-boy. We are a people that want to immerse ourselves in comfort. We have even developed a vocabulary around our desire for comfort. Veg-out and couch potato are words built around our need for comfort. In the scripture we might say that the other 11 who stayed in the boat, were “boat potato’s” Well today in America, many in the church are PEW POTATO’s. People looking for the comfort that is related to spirituality, but they don’t want to take any of the risk and challenge that go along with actually following Jesus. FOLKS, Jesus is looking for people willing to get out of the boat, (their comfort zone) willing to face the dis-comfort and do as He asks. Jesus is looking for people, (pardon the expression) that are willing to say, “Lord, I might be small potatoes, but Lord for ALL you do, this SPUD’s for you!