Take The Step Of Faith Series

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…