Storm Chasers Part 4
Pastor Tony Ashmore
Sunday, September 23, 2012
www.mylifegatechurch.com
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Sermon Notes:
My Boat is Sinking
Matthew 14:24-27 “Meanwhile, the disciples were in trouble far away from land, for astrong wind had risen, and they were fighting heavy waves. About three o’clock in the morning Jesus came toward them, walking on the water. When the disciples saw him walking on the water, they were terrified. In their fear, they cried out, “It’s a ghost!” But Jesus spoke to them at once. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Take courage. I am
here!”
1 Peter 1:13 (NLT) "So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to thegracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world."
1. An Anchor for the Soul: The trap of the storm is the ‘overwhelming of the soul’—it begins to dominate our mind, will, reasons and emotions (soul). Peter teaches us recognize this and seek the Holy Spirit’s help in keeping our soul in line with God’s Spirit. (Note the initial reaction of the disciples seeing Jesus—this man with whom they were very familiar: they didn’t recognize Him! They thought He was a ghost. When the storm becomes the focus of our souls, everything is distorted and scary. But once they recognized Jesus, the storm is no longer the focus.)
2. Truth as my Compass: We lose our bearings in the midst of the storm, saying and doing things we might not normally say or do. Peter encourages us to exercise self-control by ‘knowing what we are to do’. The Truth is the source of that information. It stops the compass needle from spinning and points to the answer. (Note the effect of Jesus walking on water to reach the disciples during a storm: The storm was getting all the attention but at His appearance all the attention shifts to Jesus—in fact, the story shifts from being about a storm to being about Jesus and His power. We move from being ‘trapped’ in a horrible storm to an exciting ‘walking on water’ adventure.)
3. Elevate Jesus: When we become our agenda in the storm, we become ‘storm chasers’ as described in Jesus’ teaching in Luke 6. We fall for the trap and the storm becomes all about us—how it effecting us, hurting us, bothering us, etc. By looking forward and elevating Jesus—making Him and the Kingdom—our agenda stays pure and our goal moves from ‘me winning’, or ‘me surviving’, to ‘Jesus being glorified’ no matter what. (The goal of the storm was to sink the boat and stop the forward movement of the Kingdom. In spite of the storm still raging all around them, simply making Jesus the center of attention instead of the storm, disarmed the power of the storm and changed the goals of every disciple. No longer was their goal to simply ‘survive the storm’ their goal became ‘walking in the power of Jesus.’ Not one more mention of the storm—everything is about
Jesus and the Kingdom now.)
So What? What Really Matters?
Philippians 1:10 “For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until the day of Christ’s return.”
Peter encourages us “not to slip back, doing what we have done out of habit” but to stay focused on Jesus, understanding that the real victory, the ultimate goal, in every storm is Jesus being exalted. John 21: Peter and Jesus share breakfast and a walk on the beach. Jesus has prepared fish on a charcoal fire. The last charcoal fire they shared was the one in the chief priest’s courtyard where Peter had denied even knowing Jesus, cursing Him.
Know Jesus has brought him back to the place of that ‘storm’ to restore him. Jesus asks Peter 3 times “Do you love me?” using the agapao word for love which means the God kind of love. Peter responds with phileo, “Yes Lord I love you like a brother.” Jesus then tells Peter how his life will end. If Peter’s love for Jesus doesn’t make the leap from “I love you like a brother” to “You are my God and I love you with the God-kind of love” then Peter will not win that final storm—his own crucifixion. Peter, when told he would crucified like Jesus since he loved Him so much asked to be crucified upside down because he was unworthy of dying in the same manner as his Lord (agapao, not phileo). When anyone walked by that cross, they stopped and asked, ‘Why is that man crucified upside down?’ Peter made sure the answer pointed to Jesus and not him. What really matters in every storm is who gets glorified, who gets the attention, who is exalted? Peter learned what really matters and knocked it out of the ballpark. All the result of thinking clearly, exercising self-control and looking forward toward Jesus. I think he would tell you that when Jesus was glorified in that one, he won—in spite of the fact that the storm resulted in his own death. “Death, where is your sting?”
3 Simple Keys: (1 Peter 1:14-16 MSG “Don’t lazily slip back into those old grooves of evil, doing just what you feel like doing. You didn’t know any better then; you do now. As obedient children, let yourselves be pulled into a way of life shaped by God’s life, a life energetic and blazing with holiness. God said, “I am holy; you be holy.”)
• Don’t slip back into old habits and ways of responding.
• Look forward with all your hope in the grace of Jesus.
• Define the ‘real win’—Jesus glorified.
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