I spoke on ‘Stepping out during the storms’ last Sunday. As a church we’ve been feeling God calling us to expand this year – even though the world and many of the things we see would suggest we should do the opposite. Many people I know are facing a lot of storms at the moment, so I just wanted to take the opportunity to speak into the reality of that situation.
We looked at Peter stepping out of the boat and walking on the water to Jesus. (Matthew 14:22-33) What on earth made him do that? You can download it from our website (or listen here) and I hope that it’ll help you in your current situation. I hit a few main points so it went a bit longer than I normally would. If you can’t handle 38 minutes there’s always the summary slides.
If you’re more the one-point type of person or you don’t have the time to download anything then keep reading for my 30 second, 1 point answer to “How come Peter stepped out of the boat”.
Here it is….be prepared to be completely underwhelmed by it’s theological complexity….
Peter stepped out regardless of the storm because his desire to be with Jesus was greater than his desire for anything else.
That’s it. Simple, huh?
Too often worry about our own plans, fears, failings, or personal comforts. As you look at the life of Peter you don’t see much of the leadership qualities we admire and value. You don’t get the impression that he had burning sense of ambition or desire for status. You don’t find a guy that was that educated. He probably wasn’t even the greatest church leader.
In fact the only quality he seems to possess is an overwhelming desire to follow Jesus anywhere. As he stepped out – time after time – in obedience to Jesus’ call, he discovered friendship with God and he was used for amazing things. Check out the book of Acts to see what happened when Peter stepped out in the power of the Holy Spirit: 3000 people getting saved and added to the church following one preach, sick people getting healed, people getting raised from the dead, Churches being established and growing.
Don’t worry about things you can’t figure out, about your comforts or fears. Just love Jesus more than anything else. Desire Jesus and follow his voice. Even if you mess up you’ll discover that Jesus rescues you, and you’ll discover what the disciples found when they were with Jesus – peace in the middle of the storm
As G.K.Chesterton said…
Let your religion be less theory and more love affair
Wise words indeed.
Filed under: Christian Life, church
