Mark 6:45-52

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Turn with me to where

Jesus walks on water

Mark 6:45-52

45 And straightway he constrained his disciples to get into the ship, and to go to the other side before [a]unto Bethsaida, while he sent away the people.

46 And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray.

47 And when even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on the land.

48 And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them: and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them.

49 But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out:

50 For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: it is I; be not afraid.'

51 And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased: and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered.

52 For they considered not the miracle of the loaves: for their heart was hardened.

Sermon: Wading through troubled waters

This text is all about contrary winds - opposition; those things that come into our lives and make us wonder if we will EVER make it through.

What kinds of contrary winds did Jesus face?

Mark’s gospel tells us that Jesus was rejected in his home town,

It would be rough if your family, friends, and neighbors didn't accept you.

some of you might know a little bit about that

Jesus also had national problems too.

King Herod had just put Jesus’ cousin, John the Baptist to death,

and he wasn’t too happy about the ministry of Jesus either.

Another contrary wind was the difficulty of popularity that Jesus had.

everyone needed something.

He couldn’t get a day off.

but I believe that the most contrary of the winds facing Jesus was within his own camp.

His own disciples had such little faith,

every time Jesus wanted to demonstrate His Lordship over this world, it was his own followers that gave him the most grief.

Life is often an uphill battle!

Family life, career, school, relationships, ministry - it is all a daily, living, breathing challenge to keep things under control.

Murphy's law say's WHATEVER CAN POSSIBLY GO WRONG WILL.

at times in life that old saying almost seems true.

for example if I applied that to ministry it would be really easy to focus on contrary winds;

I mean I could focus on the obstacles of ministry --

never enough money for projects,

never enough time

the lack of interest that the community seems to have towards church.

all of these things are Contrary winds!

there is a lot of contrary winds in this world

things we all have to do & go through

hardships, tears, heartbreaks, all things we have to go through from time to time

the storms of life will come

well in the passage that we have read this morning we find a real storm

in a raging sea, and a real Christ, walking on deep, deeply troubled waters.

I would like to add that the God who created those waters in the first place, had no problem walking on them,

He could have parted them and make a dry path through the water.

if He had wanted to He could’ve made the waters flee from His very presence

he's God and he could've done whatever he wanted

and he still is in control

Jesus walked on the water.

this tells us something about our own problems with contrary winds.

The main question is,

"WHO’S IN CONTROL?"

I have four points to make from this story

#1. JESUS WAS THE ONE WHO COMPELLED THEM INTO THE CONTRARY WINDS

Immediately, the question comes as to why Jesus would have sent the disciples on ahead.

He almost always travelled with them.

So why not this time?