“Title: “Unsinkable”
Mark 4:35-41
Subject: What does the calming of the storm teach us about Jesus?
Complement: His kingdom is going to flourish, endure and thrive!
Big idea: Jesus calls us to an unsinkable kingdom!
Preaching idea ? there is only one unsinkable ship – it's the kingdom of God – and Jesus is it's captain.
Introduction: Remember the Titanic? Unsinkable??? Well, they are building Titanic 2.0
Titanic II is an ocean liner intended to be a functional modern-day replica of the RMS Titanic. The new ship is planned to have a gross tonnage (GT) of 56,000 while the original ship measured about 46,000 gross register tons (GRT).
The project was announced by Australian millionaire Clive Palmer in April 2012 as the flagship of the proposed cruise company Blue Star Line Pty. Ltd. of Brisbane, Australia. The intended launch date was originally set in 2016, delayed to 2018, then 2022. As of October 2018, the development of the project was expected to resume in November 2018 after a hiatus which began in 2015, caused by a financial dispute that affected the $500 million project.
Is any ship truly unsinkable???
When I was about 20 years old and living in CBS - beautiful Topsail… we decided it was a perfect July night to go fishing on the bay. The sky was blue. The ocean was calm. Mom and dad along with myself and my younger brother. It was very unusual for Mom to come along since she had a fear of the water. Though the daughter of a fisherman, she never seemed comfortable in a boat.
About an hour into the evening the sky suddenly turned dark and the wind began to blow. The waves were energetic and reckless! Some of them jumped right into our boat.
We had to get ashore before things became too dangerous.
From sunshine to a scandalous storm!
I think I know how those 12 disciples felt on Galilee that evening long ago.
Let me read our Text for today from the Gospel of Mark… chapter 4:35-41
35 That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” 36 Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. 37 A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. 38 Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”
39 He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.
40 He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
41 They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
Transition sentence... when Jesus is your captain your ship is unsinkable!
1. Jesus Teaches On The Nature Of The Kingdom Of God -- The Kingdom Of God Has Been Announced - …But Rome Is Still In Power – And They Are Intimidating.
Earlier on this day Jesus has been teaching about the nature of the kingdom of God…
He has told a number of parables…
a. Parable of the sower (scatter seed)
b. Parable of the lamp (set it on a lampstand)
c. Parable of the growing seed (all by itself…)
d. Parable of the mustard seed (smallest to largest)
e. “the kingdom of heaven is like…”
**“that day when evening came…” All day long Jesus has been teaching about the nature of the kingdom. It’s like the smallest of seeds that grows into the largest of trees!
You see, after all day in the classroom… Jesus takes his 12 disciples on a field trip… “let’s go over to the other side he says…
2. The Disciples Are Taken On A Field Trip …To Test Their Comprehension Of The Kingdom!!!
Galilee is surrounding by hills and a wind tunnel effect sends the lake into a fury… but surprisingly Jesus takes a nap!
As the storm intensifies water is coming into the boat…it's nearly swamped…they panic even though they are seasoned fishermen and accustomed to storms
They wake up Jesus from his nap…“don’t you care if we drown?”
Have you ever asked this question…
Contrast their panic with Jesus napping! ( a picture of peace and calm…)
What storm are you in??? … are you afraid… are you in a panic? When we get sick or lose a job or there’s family stress…we may wonder “God, do you care?” Jesus…Are you going to put a stop to this storm in my life?So… Jesus is awakened…Listen to this question… “don’t you care if we drown?
There’s a flaw in this question… think about what’s implied here… if the ship goes down… the 12 disciples are drowned.
...the calling …the teaching and the time that Jesus has invested in these men…shaping them to be leaders…
Is Jesus going to drown too?
Is he going to survive but see the 12 drown?
the divine call upon them…. well it's just talk… there’s no substance to any of it… high hopes have turned into huge disappointment and disillusionment.
What’s missing here? The 12 haven’t yet fully grasped what they are a part of !
Have we?
Do you know who you are (Identity)
Do you know who calls you his own ?
We have this same experience… do we really know what we are a part of?
3. Jesus awakens…he stands up --- “quiet! Be still!”
… Jesus calmly calms the storm !
“the wind died down and it was completely calm”
The disciples are surprised – again!
They were surprised when Jesus was sleeping during the storm – and they are even more surprised that Jesus was able – simply by speaking – to stop the storm on Galilee.
They had underestimated Jesus …they had their faith stretched during the storm and now after the storm..
Notice that they are terrified and ask each other – “who is this?”
Isn’t that interesting… first they are terrified by the storm and now they are terrified by Jesus himself – his power.
They look at each other and ask… “who is this? … who is he? “how did you do that?
They are incredulous.
Jesus is showing the 12 who he is… and what they are part of!!!
…Sometimes (many times) we wonder why God doesn’t intervene… and we may think he doesn’t care… but maybe he cares about us more than we know…
a. and they ask… who is he…
b. what are we a part of?
c. They’re thinking needs to be stretched
Now notice with me the teaching moment…
“Jesus turns to his 12 disciples and asks them… challenges them in fact…
“why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”
What a question this is!!!
I’m somewhat surprised that Jesus doesn’t say…
”I should never have taken a nap… I should have been helping you bail the water out of the boat!
“I’m sorry …I’m sorry…”
Sleeping during a storm is a bad idea… when there’s a storm… it's all hands on deck…
But Jesus doesn’t apologize for napping… quite the opposite – he challenges his disciples on the matter of their faith!
Don’t you trust me??? – says Jesus!
Q. Why did you choose fear instead of faith???
(Have you ever made this mistake?) … we all have…
***Is Jesus being a little too tough on the 12?***
Well… let’s look at the story in it's context…
verse 35 says, “that day when evening came…”
What else was happening on this day – Jesus was teaching about the nature of the kingdom of God.…the day begins with a parable … “The kingdom of God is like a farmer scattering seed…”
While some seed didn’t grow… some did… it fell on good soil and produced a good harvest… 30…60...100 times what was sown.
Another parable…the kingdom of God is like a man scattering seed… the parable of the growing seed… “the seed sprouts and grows…all by itself it produces grain…
Again Jesus said… the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed…which is the smallest of all seeds…yet when planted it grows and becomes the largest of all garden plants…
That day… when Jesus was teaching about the nature of the kingdom… when evening came…
… that day!!! ….Jesus takes the 12 into a storm on Galilee
I wonder… if Jesus can stop a storm…can he also start one?
You see Jesus takes us through storms to teach us to trust in him.
This is why Jesus confronts the 12 with his pointed question – why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith – in me!
Do you not understand who I am?
Do you not understand the nature of my kingdom?
A storm on galilee isn’t going to defeat the kingdom of God!
Think of oppressive governments that try to eradicate xty …like the soviet union… like many countries today… North korea…
They have all failed to defeat Christ and his church…
The soviet union itself has collapsed… while the church is vibrant and growing… I’ve seen it with my own eyes in Ukraine…I’ve been to Mongolia…the church is growing there too…
One person posed the question this way…
“is the Christ of the gospels still capable of forming the center of our prodigiously expanded universe? Is not the world in the process of becoming more vast, more dazzling than (even) God? Will it not burst our faith asunder and eclipse our God?”
What do you say?
I say today more than ever – it that were possible – people have come to realize that all of our advancements in science, economics and technology have not solved the problems of the world and the problems of the human heart.
We need God… we were made in his image – and made for relationship with him!
I invite you to put your faith in Christ … I invite you turn from fear based living to faith based living.
You see friends …there’s “bigger fish” in play here…
**Jesus doesn’t want to be the one we turn to in a panic… he wants us to trust him day by day… to have him at the center of our lives…
he’s more than a life-preserver on a stormy sea… he is creator…he is master of the universe… he is the king of kings.
***When Jesus is with you in the storm – your ship is unsinkable.
Trouble will come --- that’s what storms are- But Jesus is bigger than the storm…Sometimes he stops the storm…Sometimes not.
Read matthew 7:24-27
24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. 25 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. 26 But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. 27 The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
4. Application: When the storms come…when the challenges come… trust him (rescue or no rescue)
Q ? when is the best time to take a nap?
A ? when a storm is raging
***Sounds counter-intuitive (It is…)
*** … preach…scatter seed… put the lamp on a stand and turn it on!!!
i. Think of the gospel as seed… but look what happens to mustard seed…The word of God preached… will take root and multiply
when culture changes and threatens our very existence in a free society… we can be confident in the gospel and in Jesus our lord. Even if the storm is intimidating …our confidence in the gospel motivates us to keep preaching … to keep scattering seed.
b. … keep preaching… keep scattering seed
c. Don’t panic
d. There will be a harvest
e. Smallest seed… largest tree
*** … Jesus is our captain
Don’t panic… don’t fear…
Jesus is bigger than the storm***
You…we have been through storms…
Jesus is onboard… and he’s not asleep!!! Sleep here… means “I can sleep at night” Sleep here = is an object lesson! (for peace)…no panic!!!
*** so, if a storm is brewing… have a nap!!!
I’m glad to be in the boat with Jesus… I’ll take my chances with him.
When Jesus is your captain – your ship is unsinkable!!!
Do you hear me church?
Even the wind and the waves obey him!!!
Hebrews 12:27
28 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, 29 for our “God is a consuming fire.”
