Why Can’t I Feel My Faith?

***Credit is due to John Ortberg -- author of "If you want to walk on water you have to get out of the boat."

Also to Jeff Vines, teaching pastor for the outline

READ: Matthew 14:22-33

1. How do we see God?

What is your view of God?

Capricious God ** impulsive, unpredictable, changeable**

God of Love

God of Wrath ** Angry, vengeful -- Trust, faith, hope

Disciples were afraid – they thought Jesus was a ghost

Are you afraid of God?

Do you see no need for God?

Do you feel you are better going it alone?

You will continue to struggle through life until you face these issues

2. Emotions – Need vs Reality

Our emotions are unreliable

Fear of failure

Faith requires risking failure

Peter gets out of boat and SINKS!

People fail ** end of story**

Not end of story

Hands up if you have ever failed

Not picked for a team

Missed what would have been the winning or shot – or let the winning shot through

Failed an exam

Let someone down – parents or friend, teach, pastor, leader

Tried some task and you couldn’t complete it

If you have experienced some kind of failure, then you have the potential to be a ‘water walker’

Our emotions will hold us back -- understanding God will lead us to back to reality -- we will see things the way they and they way are supposed to be

3. Learn the Language of God

The Bible – God’s revealed word to us

Who God us, what he wants

Who we are, what we are supposed to be

ILLUSTRATION: William Wilberforce

C 18th & 19th MP in Great Britain

Became a Christian and campaigned against the human slave trade and for other moral reforms.

Faced rejection, ridicule, great opposition and even self doubt

In movie “Amazing Grace” about his life

He would walk around his estate and “talk to God” and “Think about God” and the mysteries of the universe

He Learned the Language of God until it impacted his conscience

Urging him to take on the issues facing Great Britain at the time

4. Deal with emotion blocks and Problems

Our emotions and problems often dictate how we will respond

Don’t let them stand in the way of obedience to Jesus

Deal with them – so you walk through the waves and meet Jesus face to face on the water

As we continue to read the story carefully, we realize that failure is an opportunity for a Christian to grow in their faith.

ILLUSTRATION: Jonas Salk

attempted 200 unsuccessful vaccines for polio before he came up with one that worked. Somebody asked, “How did it feel to fail 200 times trying to invent a vaccine for polio?”

This was his response: “I never failed 200 times at anything in my life. My family taught me never to use that word. I simply discovered 200 ways how not to make a vaccine for polio.”

Somebody asked Winston Churchill, "What most prepared you to lead Great Britain through World War II?" For a period of time, Great Britain stood virtually alone against Nazi Germany as it dominated the Western World.

This was Churchill’s response:

It was the time I repeated a class in grade school.

The questioner said, "You mean you flunked a grade?"

Churchill said,

I never flunked in my life. I was given a second opportunity to get it right."

5. Value Obedience – Aim to live a Godly life

Faith is exercised – have to work at it

Peter – did he fail ** Look at 11 other disciples cowering in the boat

Choosing to follow Jesus

We need to recognise the difference between

Believing in Jesus and being a disciple of Jesus

A believer is not necessary disciple

I can say I am a believer in Jesus but take it not further than that.

However – a disciple is a believer in Jesus, who says,

“I want to live like Jesus.”

Reject Experimentalism

Relating to “experience” as opposed to other methods of acquiring knowledge

Make decisions not based on flawed emotions but based on reality

Based on who God is!