Well… I just wanna welcome everyone here to Embrace…
My name is Adam… I’m one of the pastors here…
and as always…we are just so excited… that you are here…
and I hope it’s been a great weekend for everyone… so far.
Last weekend… my wife Bec was gone to a conference… in the Cities…
And so… I was at home alone…
by myself… with all 4 of our kids…
And since then… I don’t think I have ever been more thankful for my wife.
But a couple of times during last weekend…
My oldest son… would tell his siblings:
He’d say: hey guys… remember… we need to be good for dad…
because this… isn’t easy for him.
Which was maybe God saying to me:
hey dad… why don’t you suck it up.
Hashtag… worst dad ever.
But I truly… love my wife…
more than ever.
And once again… we’re so glad that you’re here today…
and I hope it’s been a great weekend so far.
Now… for the last few weeks…
we’ve been in a series called… waves.
And we started out the series by asking:
in your own life…
is there anything that you’re scared of right now?
in your own life…
is there anything that you’re scared of today…
and we said that… maybe it’s taking a step of faith…
and it’s being used by God…
or it’s making a big decision …
that we’re scared of.
Or maybe it’s just… each day in general… that’s scary…
And we’re just worried about our kids…
Or about money…
Or we struggle with anxiety… or an addiction.
Or maybe it’s our health… or the health of someone that we love…
And we’re just scared.
Or maybe it’s the unknown in our lives… that is scary…
what might happen… and what might take place.
Maybe it’s making a change in our lives…
We so badly want to change…
and we no longer wanna be the same person anymore
but making a change… is scary….
Or maybe… we’re just scared when it comes to Jesus….
And we want a relationship with Him….
And we wanna follow Him…
And we want to be all in for the Lord.
but we’re just scared.
And so again… we’ve just been talking about…
some of the things that we’re scared of… right now
And at the heart of this series…
We’ve been looking at a story…
One of my favorite stories…
found in the book of Matthew… chapter 14.
And so at this time… if we have a Bible… I’d encourage us to open it up… to Matthew 14.
use the Bible on our phone…
and don’t worry… if you don’t have a Bible.
But again… it’s Matthew 14
And bringing us up to speed on what’s happening in this story…
Jesus… has been healing people… and teaching people…
And he just finished feeding 5,000 people…
When Jesus tells his 12 disciples…
to get into a boat… and to cross over the Sea of Galilee…
while he stays behind….
And so the 12 disciples get into the boat…
and they start paddling across…
while Jesus stays back…
And starting in verse 24….
It says: meanwhile… (yellow)
Basically… At this point…
These men… having been paddling for hours…
And these waves are big… and the wind is strong…
And their boat is being tossed around…
And they’re exhausted…
And they’re wet… and they’re cold.
And they’re beginning to fear… for their lives.
I mean… these men… are terrified…
And they are scared…
And yet listen to what Jesus says to them… verse 27… (blue)
Jesus… calls out… and says:
"Be encouraged! It's me. Don't be afraid."
Again… Jesus is like:
Hey guys… it’s me.
It’s Jesus!
Don’t be scared!
And I know these waves…
and this wind… looks scary…
But it’s nothing to be afraid of…
And so Jesus says this…
And then listen to what Peter says in response… verse 28… (pink)
And Peter says… "Lord, if it's you….
**Again… Jesus, if it’s you…
Order me to step out… on the water…
Jesus says come…
And in return Peter stepped out of the boat…
And he began to walk out on the water…
towards Jesus.
And now just to be clear… Peter has now… actually taken the step out…
and he’s… physically… walking on water…
Like he’s doing it….
It’s not just an idea… or a nice thought…
Instead he’s actually taken the step out…
and He’s walking on water…
which is incredible…
But now listen to verse 30…
It says… But when Peter saw the strong wind… he became frightened.
Again… he’s walking on water…
He’s doing the impossible… as we speak…
but when Peter saw the strong wind…
when he saw the wind… and the waves…
he became frightened.
and he began to sink…
And so…. that’s what we’ve looked at so far… in this story…
And again… for this series…
we’ve just been talking about…
some of things that we’re scared of…
And looking at Peter…
our simple challenge for this series... has been:
what one step… is God asking us to take… right now?
what one specific step… out of the boat…
do we need to take ourselves today?
And I’d ask all of us… that same question again right now:
what one step… do we need to take… today?
And we said… that instead of just being scared…
maybe it’s taking a step of faith…
and it’s making a decision that we just know…
that God is asking us to make.
Or it’s checking out a small group….
Or it’s pursuing a dream…
Or it’s giving our worries and the things that we’re scared of…
over to God.
Or it’s making an intentional change in our lives…
Or when it comes to following Jesus…
The one step… is maybe deciding to follow Him for the first time…
Or it’s surrendering…
one specific part of our lives… over to Him.
And so… maybe it’s choosing to forgive a person who’s hurt us.
Or maybe it’s tithing….
Or it’s deciding to be baptized…
And so again… we’ve just been asking…
what one step… is God asking us to take…
But now…. continuing on…
with our story for today…
Once more… Peter is walking on water…
And He gets scared… by the wind and the waves…
And he starts sinking….
And then Jesus… ends up… pulling Him out of the water.
And then starting in verse 32… (blue)
here is what we’re told…
it says… when they got into the boat….
**And just so we hear this right?
Again… remember… the wind is blowing like it’s crazy…
and the waves are going nuts…
and the boat’s all over the place…
and yet… when Jesus gets into the boat…
the wind stops…
It ceases.
One place I read this week said:
Jesus doesn’t command… the wind to stop…
Instead… in response to His very presence…
It stops.
And can you imagine this?
I mean… if I’m one of the disciples… I’m like:
what in the world… is going on here…
and who is this guy?
He was just walking on water…
and now the wind is stopping?
But continuing on… to the last verse in our story…
verse 33 says… (pink)
Then those in the boat worshipped Jesus…
and said… You must be God’s son.
Again… Jesus steps in…
the wind… and the waves… die down…
and then we’re told that the disciples…
start worshipping Jesus.
They worship Jesus.
It’s just this awesome scene….
And now there is so much we could say today…
from just these last 2 verses alone….
But today I just wanna highlight 3 specific things… for us…
And the first thing is this…
Each time we take a step out…
we come to see… and realize…
more and more… of who God is.
Again… each time we take a step out…
each time we get out of the boat…
each time we trust Jesus…
Each time… we come to see… and understand…
just a little bit more about who God is.
I mean… for Peter and the disciples…
Peter steps out… and he walking on water…
And then… Jesus does His thing…
And the first thing they all say is…
you must be God’s son.
I mean… they come to understand…
just a little bit more… about who God is.
And in my own life…
Each time I’ve taken a step out myself…
this has without question been true for me.
It’s like… when I first started following Jesus…
I knew that God was good… and that I could trust Him.
But I didn’t know…
and I didn’t have a clue…
of just how good and trustworthy…
He really is.
And when I first took a step out…
And I began to give God my worries…
And my fears….
And my insecurities…
Instead of just hearing about God’s peace…
I began to experience it…
And all I could think was….
God, your peace… it truly surpasses all understanding.
And in college… when I first began to step out…
I wanted to be used by God…
but I was scared out of my mind.
It was like… who am I to tell someone else about Jesus…
who am I to lead a college small group thing…
and who am I… that God would wanna use me…
I mean… I’m just a new Christian…
And I didn’t feel good enough…
or spiritual enough…
And yet each time I took the step…
I came to see… that God can use anyone…
anyone who is open and willing to be used…
And I came to see… that we serve a God…
who anything is possible with.
And He can use us… in ways we can’t imagine.
Like He can use you…
and somehow He can use me.
And also… 8 years ago… when Bec and I first started looking into adoption…
We just knew we were… supposed to adopt at some point…
And our plan… was to adopt our third kid…
but God was just making it so clear… that we were supposed to right now…
And yet financially… it was like…
how in the word is this going to happen?
I mean… Bec and I didn’t have thousands of dollars…
just sitting around.
And I was driving a 1993 Chevy Cavalier at the time…
It’s like… Jesus, I don’t wanna doubt you…
but every time I get in my car I do…
And yet… each time we needed more money…
to take the next step in the adoption process…
we somehow had the funds…
and each time… I came to see… and realize…
that God is truly a great provider.
And if He challenges us to step out…
If it’s His plan not ours…
He’s gonna provide
It may not always be in our timing… or the way we want…
But He will come through.
Again… each time…we take a step out…
Each time… we trust Him…
Each time… we give Him our worries…
Each time… we hold on to Him…
Each time we surrender to Him…
We come to see… and understand…
just a little bit more about who God is.
And so there’s that… and then the second thing…
that stuck out to me from these verses…
is after all that’s happened…
After taking a step out… and walking on the water…
and after making it through the wind and the waves…
The disciples are left… only talking about Jesus.
I mean… Peter’s not bragging…
like did you see me... I was walking on water…
and I was impressed with myself as well.
He doesn’t say this.
And even though they were all just scared…
And terrified… by the wind and waves…
They didn’t mention either things…
And for that matter…
they don’t talk about anything else…
Instead… they were left… only talking about Jesus.
and the same should be true for us… as well.
After we take a step out…
After walking on water…
After the wind and waves…
we should be left… talking about Jesus… ourselves.
And maybe for you… it’s like…. my career… has taken off…
And I’m so thankful….
but it’s not me… and so let me tell you about Jesus.
And I don’t know how I got the job that I have…
And everything I have… isn’t mine…
And so… let me tell you about Jesus.
Or maybe it’s… my mom went through cancer…
and it’s one of the hardest things we’ve gone through…
and I miss her so much…
but even still… let me tell you about Jesus…
Or I went through this dark time… this trial… this valley…
And it was so hard… and scary...
and there’s so much I still don’t understand…
But let me tell you about… Jesus…
Or I’ve been sober for the last 2 months… let me tell you about Jesus.
Or I struggle with depression… but I finding freedom…
and let me tell you about Jesus.
Or I’ve been taking steps… and my life is changing….
but let me tell you about Jesus.
Or amazing things are happening… in and through my life…
but let me tell… about Jesus.
Again… After we take a step out…
we should be left… talking about Jesus.
And so that’s the second thing… and then the last thing…
that I wanna highlight from these verses…
is simple fact…
that when Jesus steps into the boat…
we’re told… that they… worshiped Him.
Again… when Jesus steps in…
It says… then those in the boat worshiped Jesus.
And now just being honest…
so often… when God does something amazing in my own life…
or when Jesus provides for me…
or He comforts me…
or He comes through for me…
So often… when Jesus clearly steps in…
being honest…
my first reaction isn’t always to worship Jesus…
Instead… often in this moment….
I just start rationalizing things away…
Like… I wonder how that happened…
and chance is amazing… isn’t it?
And then other times when Jesus steps in…
He’ll do something amazing…
Which is cool….
but I’m already onto the next thing…
and so it’s like thanks God… that was great…
but can you now… do this for me?
While… other times… I’ll just be so consumed…
with my day, and my schedule, and my life…
that when Jesus doesn’t something amazing…
I somehow miss the whole thing…
But once again… in our story…
when Jesus steps into the boat…
we’re told… that they… worshiped Jesus.
They worshiped Him…
And this word worship…
means that they would have physically…
gotten down… on their knees.
And they would touched their forehead…
to the ground.
As a way... of showing reverence…
As a way… of showing awe…
As a way… of declaring that they’re fully surrendered to Him.
And no one told them to do so…
they just automatically did so…
After seeing all that happened…
Jesus… steps into the boat…
And they worshiped Him.
And in this moment…
what they’re saying... is that this man… Jesus… is God…
And He’s holy…
And He’s good…
and He’s so wonderful….
and truly awe-some…
that in this moment… I have to…
and I want… to worship Him.
And have you ever had a moment…
like this with God before?
Where He just so clearly shows up.
Where He just so clearly protected you from something.
Or He provided for you…
And you just can’t help… but worship Him.
And I can remember in high school…
when I felt God’s presence… for the first time…
It was just like… I have no idea… what I’m feeling.
But I just feel like this pastor is speaking right at me…
and I’m just feeling something…
And I didn’t physically… get down on my knees…
Because I mean… I grew up Lutheran…
so I couldn’t do that right…
In church… you can’t move in you’re Lutheran.
but in that moment… everything in me…
was just worshiping Jesus.
And these days… I just wave my arms…
like a crazy man… as we’re worshiping in church.
But again… when Jesus steps in…
Our first response… should be to worship Him.
Now closing things up today…
My hope and prayer from this series... as a whole…
is that we’d each… every last one of us…
would each take a step out of the boat…
With whatever it is… that God puts on our heart…
that we’d each take a step out...
and then we’d take another step… and another step…
and another.
with our eyes focused on Jesus.
You see… I know for myself… I don’t want to live my life…
staying in… and clinging to the boat.
I don’t wanna live my life… playing it safe…
and just staying where I am.
Instead I wanna step out… and trust Jesus.
I wanna step out… and be changed by Jesus.
I wanna step out… and be used by Jesus.
I wanna follow Jesus…
And I wanna spend the rest of my life…
worshiping Him
And so again… I hope and pray… that we’d each take a step out.
And this includes me as well…
And for myself personally… lately…
it just feels like God has been challenging me…
to step out all over the place.
To trust God with my kids…
as a dad… I worry so much about them.
And I just finished writing a book…
which honestly feels so weird and crazy to me.
Like I’m the last person who should write a book.
and it was a huge step for me…
And then weekly… as a pastor… I feel so inadequate to be a pastor.
and so it’s taking steps…
and trusting God that He can use me…
But at the start of this series…
I just began to pray… and ask: God…
what is my one step that you want me to take?
Jesus… what one step… are you asking of me?
And this might sound foolish…
and I went back and forth…
in whether I should share this or not…
But for the past 10 years….
I’ve gotten up here each Sunday…
and when I’ve preached…
I have always… had a black music stand…
with all of my notes on it.
Like word for word… I’ve used my notes…
and I’ve have my music stand…
It’s just how my professor taught us in seminary…
And literally… for 10 years… I’ve wanted to make a change…
but no kidding… I’ve been terrified to do so…
Like… my first couple of years of being a pastors…
I would regularly have the same nightmare… on Saturday nights…
And the nightmare was me losing my notes…
And I kid you not… there were countless nights…
Where I’d have this dream….
And in the middle of the night…
I would wake up… and afterward…
I’d go out to my car
to make sure my notes were still…
in my bag.
And so again… 2 weeks ago…
I’m praying about this question… and through a bunch of different things…
It became crystal clear…
that I needed to try and go away from my music stand.
And the first week… 2 Sundays ago…
To put it lightly…
I was terrified… and I came up here… and I was shaking.
But I took the step out.
And then last week… I felt…
exactly like what we talked about last week.
I felt like I was sinking… and I wanted my music stand back.
And after each of the services… no joke…
I was talking with staff.
asking if I should go back to it or it…
which is exactly…
what I was preaching against.
I wanted to get back into the boat…
And well… this week… let’s just say…
that my music stand… is still not here.
And it may not…. seem like a big deal to you…
But it’s a huge deal to me…
And truly I’m in awe of God… over it.
You see… each and every time we take a step out…
God… He meets us in this place.
He provides for us…
He comes through for us…
Instead of being consumed…
with the wind and the waves…
He helps us… walk on water.
It’s amazing.
And so… once more today…
I pray…. that every last one of us… including myself…
would each take a step out of the boat… a bold step…
and keep our eyes on Jesus…
and then… when He does the impossible.
we’d worship Him.
Let’s pray.
