Speaker 1: Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation
Speaker 1: Church and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank
Speaker 1: you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope
Speaker 1: it builds your faith. Hope it gives your perspective to
Speaker 1: see God is moving in your life. Enjoy the message. Well,
Speaker 1: take a seat. We're so glad you're here today. We're
Speaker 1: continuing in the series Savage Jesus from the Gospel of Mark.
Speaker 1: Believe me when I say that, I never thought i'd say.
Speaker 1: This is the tenth installment of this series. I usually
Speaker 1: preach short and sweet, but I got in the Gospel
Speaker 1: of Mark and then I couldn't get out. So today
Speaker 1: we'll be in Mark chapter six. I want to introduce
Speaker 1: my scripture by way of a story. When I wrote
Speaker 1: my first book, I had the privilege to record the
Speaker 1: audio book myself, and they sent a very professional recording
Speaker 1: engineer from the publishing company to record the book. And
Speaker 1: he would stop me and correct me if I'm made
Speaker 1: any mistakes, if I got a little too southern. He
Speaker 1: was a Northern Pharisee and he judged my accent and
Speaker 1: he'd say it's a little twangie let's get it again,
Speaker 1: or if I smacked my lips or mispronounced the word,
Speaker 1: he'd back it up and make me catch it again.
Speaker 1: And it was annoying, but I appreciated his professionalism. And
Speaker 1: because the publisher was the largest publisher in the world. Now,
Speaker 1: not the publisher that I wrote for. The publisher that
Speaker 1: I wrote for was owned by a publisher who was
Speaker 1: owned by a publisher that was the biggest publishing company
Speaker 1: in the world. This guy worked for the big publisher
Speaker 1: and because of it, he had worked with a lot
Speaker 1: of big names. And this was my first book and
Speaker 1: my first time and I kept having to take breaks
Speaker 1: and my mouth would get dry. And so during one
Speaker 1: of those breaks, I realized that this guy had worked
Speaker 1: with a lot of famous people, and I asked him
Speaker 1: to tell me a story to entertain me during my break.
Speaker 1: I said, tell me about somebody you worked with that
Speaker 1: was difficult. And he told me a story about a
Speaker 1: very well known political figure. I don't know if the
Speaker 1: story is true, but why let the truth get in
Speaker 1: the way of a good story. That's my motto. So
Speaker 1: I'm gonna tell the story. I'm not gonna say the name,
Speaker 1: but it was a famous political figure who was recording
Speaker 1: his memoir about his life. That was after he had
Speaker 1: served his term for eight years something like that in office.
Speaker 1: Now I can tell who it was. But he said
Speaker 1: that when they were recording the memoir, it was very long.
Speaker 1: It was about a seven or eight hundred page book,
Speaker 1: and it had to be an abridged version. And so
Speaker 1: when they were recording the audiobook, they had to decide
Speaker 1: which sections to leave and which sections to skip. And
Speaker 1: at one particular point in the memoir, there was a
Speaker 1: section about a scandal that happened in this particular notable
Speaker 1: figure's life related to offices of oval nature and things
Speaker 1: of this sort, that happened during his tenure in what
Speaker 1: some call the highest office in the United States of America.
Speaker 1: And when he was telling me about it, he said,
Speaker 1: when they got to the part about the scandal, he
Speaker 1: said that the person who wrote the memoir, the former president,
Speaker 1: said this is falling apart. Said uh, he stopped, and
Speaker 1: he was going to skip it, and he stopped the
Speaker 1: recording and he said, I don't think people really, I
Speaker 1: think people are sick of hearing about this by now.
Speaker 1: I think we can skip this part. I mean, do
Speaker 1: you think this is really significant. And the audio engineer
Speaker 1: said that it was a real challenge to look back
Speaker 1: at somebody who had been the most powerful man in
Speaker 1: the world at one point, and he said, I had
Speaker 1: to look at him and say, yes, mister President, this
Speaker 1: is significant. And that's my title for my message today.
Speaker 1: Look at your neighbor and say, in your best Bill
Speaker 1: Clinton voice, tell him this is significant. This is significant.
Speaker 1: Our scripture lesson for today comes from Mark chapter six,
Speaker 1: something that marked the evangelist included in his gospel record
Speaker 1: that he thought was significant for us to know about
Speaker 1: the ministry of Jesus Christ. Mark six, verse forty five records. Immediately,
Speaker 1: Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go
Speaker 1: on ahead of him to beth Sadom. He did not
Speaker 1: tell them to pack ponchos. He did not give them
Speaker 1: a warning about the storm that they would encounter, just
Speaker 1: a simple instruction. I wonder if God doesn't tell us everything,
Speaker 1: because he knows we could not handle the details. So
Speaker 1: he dismissed the crowd and sent the disciples to get
Speaker 1: a head start. I'll meet you on the other side.
Speaker 1: You're almost gonna die on the way. He didn't tell
Speaker 1: him that, but after leaving them, he went up on
Speaker 1: a mountain side to pray, and later that night the
Speaker 1: boat was in the middle of the lake and he
Speaker 1: was alone on land. He saw the disciples straining at
Speaker 1: the oars because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn,
Speaker 1: he went out to them walking on the lake. He
Speaker 1: was about to pass by them, but when they saw
Speaker 1: him walking on the lake, they thought he was a ghost,
Speaker 1: because God often looks like fear from a distance. They
Speaker 1: cried out because they all saw him and were terrified. Immediately,
Speaker 1: Mark's favorite word. He spoke to them and said, take courage.
Speaker 1: It is I. Don't be afraid. Then he climbed into
Speaker 1: the boat with them and the wind died down. Day
Speaker 1: were completely amazed. Touch the neighbor you've been ignoring and
Speaker 1: say this is significant. So if you've ever been around
Speaker 1: church at all, you've heard this Bible story. If you've
Speaker 1: ever been anywhere near a church, you've heard about this
Speaker 1: Bible story. If you ever happened to drive by a
Speaker 1: church by accident, you heard this. If you ever played
Speaker 1: on church softball team, you heard curse words and this
Speaker 1: Bible story. It's a significant story because it teaches us
Speaker 1: that Jesus Christ is lord of all creation. Theologically, he
Speaker 1: is sovereign. He is sovereign. It's an epiphany story in
Speaker 1: that it gives us a revelation of Jesus Christ that
Speaker 1: is consistent with the revelation of Jesus Christ that was
Speaker 1: given in the Old Testament in a concealed form, when
Speaker 1: a bush burned and a man named Moses was meeting
Speaker 1: with God. The disclosure at that point was I am.
Speaker 1: Moses said, who are you? God said, I am. Now.
Speaker 1: It's interesting how God would spend the next several centuries
Speaker 1: filling in that blank. That they would need to know
Speaker 1: him to be water in a dry place, that they
Speaker 1: would need to know him to be a warrior in
Speaker 1: their battles. They would find all of this out, that
Speaker 1: He is sustainer in their weariness. And really, the rest
Speaker 1: of your life will be filling in that blank. And
Speaker 1: just about the time you think you've got it figured
Speaker 1: out who God is, life will so shift beneath your
Speaker 1: feet that you will realize you didn't know him at all.
Speaker 1: The disciples have been with Jesus now for quite an
Speaker 1: extensive class. They've seen him touch lepers, they've seen him
Speaker 1: heal paralytics. They've even seen him raise dead people in
Speaker 1: certain situations, and yet there was something that amazed them
Speaker 1: in this moment, something that they had not seen about
Speaker 1: him before. It is significant that Jesus told them to
Speaker 1: go forward and the wind was against them. That's significant,
Speaker 1: significant because a lot of times I assumed in my
Speaker 1: life that if God sent me to do something, the
Speaker 1: wind would work with me. That's pretty much the premise
Speaker 1: of early Christianity. You know, turn your life over to
Speaker 1: God and he'll take your burdens away. Turn your life
Speaker 1: over to the Lord, and you know, what used to
Speaker 1: keep you up at night won't keep you up at
Speaker 1: night anymore because it'll be replaced by other stuff that'll
Speaker 1: keep you up at night. Fill in the blank. You
Speaker 1: realize that a lot of times claims to faith are
Speaker 1: actually our efforts to manipulate God, until we discover in
Speaker 1: the course of time that just because the wind is
Speaker 1: against you doesn't mean that God is not for you.
Speaker 1: Many times, the confirmation that God has spoken to you
Speaker 1: is the fact that the wind is against you. We're
Speaker 1: discovering this in our study of the Gospel of Mark.
Speaker 1: We are learning that resistance is often the greatest place
Speaker 1: for revelation. Would you please take that elevation pin that
Speaker 1: cost about eleven or twelve cents, and before you steal
Speaker 1: it from the church and use it to sina check
Speaker 1: this week, write it down. Resistance leads to revelation. Resistance
Speaker 1: leads to revelation. The wind was against the disciples not
Speaker 1: because they disobeyed the words of Jesus, but because they
Speaker 1: went in the direction of his command. He sent them
Speaker 1: to beth Seda. They went to Bethseda. I got it
Speaker 1: when it was Jonah, because the wind was against Jonah
Speaker 1: because he wasn't going to Ninevah. He was going to Tarsish.
Speaker 1: And God said, go to Ninevah. And when you go
Speaker 1: to Tarsish, when you should go to Ninevah, expect the
Speaker 1: wind to be against you. Because God didn't send you
Speaker 1: to Tarshish, He sent you to NINEVH. So I expect
Speaker 1: the wind to go against me. When God told me
Speaker 1: to go to Ninevah and I went to Tarsish. But
Speaker 1: when he tell me to go to Best, say that,
Speaker 1: and I went to Best, sayda, I expect the wind
Speaker 1: to work with me. I expect God to bless me
Speaker 1: when I come to church. I expect good parking places
Speaker 1: because I came to church. I expect those shoes to
Speaker 1: go on sale because I came to church. I expect
Speaker 1: a promotion because I came to church. Makes me mad
Speaker 1: when somebody who didn't come to church, they slept in
Speaker 1: and they get a raise, and I get fired. And
Speaker 1: I can't understand how God could be with me and
Speaker 1: the wind could be against me. But often the confirmation
Speaker 1: of the word of God is the resistance of the
Speaker 1: enemy to show you you're on the right track. Here's
Speaker 1: why I feel I preach it. Here's why I'm gonna
Speaker 1: have somebody you want to turn around and go back
Speaker 1: home because the wind is against you. The wind is
Speaker 1: against you, so that you will know that it is
Speaker 1: the Lord's presence with you that makes you successful. If
Speaker 1: the wind was working with you, you would think the
Speaker 1: wind when you got to your destination. If it were easy,
Speaker 1: you would think the wrong things. If the wind wasn't
Speaker 1: against you, you wouldn't need the Lord to come and
Speaker 1: step into the wind and speak peace to the wind.
Speaker 1: So the wind has to be against you to prove
Speaker 1: that the Lord is with you. Calm down, verdict. This
Speaker 1: is just the introduction and so Jesus, savage Jesus, the
Speaker 1: Jesus that's in the Bible, not the Jesus this on Pinterest,
Speaker 1: Savage Jesus, real life Jesus, Monday morning Jesus. Yeah, Friday Jesus,
Speaker 1: Saturday Jesus. Not the Jesus that is playing a harp
Speaker 1: and stroking the wool of the lamb. But the Jesus
Speaker 1: who sends his disciples into a storm and watches them strength.
Speaker 1: I got to go. You don't believe this. You about
Speaker 1: to be really jealous. I got to go and sit
Speaker 1: on the mountain where Jesus prayed. And the man who
Speaker 1: took us there last year, he knew everything about everything.
Speaker 1: I think he was Jesus. He took us up there,
Speaker 1: he said, here's where Jesus was praying in March chapter six.
Speaker 1: And then he pointed to the lake that the Bible
Speaker 1: mentions where the storm was, and from that mountain you
Speaker 1: can see the whole lake. And he dropped this on
Speaker 1: us right before he left us. He said, so the
Speaker 1: whole time they were straining, Jesus could see them. And
Speaker 1: he walked off and I cried, I have a picture
Speaker 1: of me sitting on that mountain and there's Kleenex all
Speaker 1: around me because Holly just kept handing them to me,
Speaker 1: one after another, that he saw them in the storm,
Speaker 1: that he saw them in the storm. And then I
Speaker 1: was after I got done crying, because I realized he
Speaker 1: sees me in my storm, and he knows what I'm
Speaker 1: going through, and he knows what I deal with, and
Speaker 1: he knows what people have done to me, and he
Speaker 1: sees tears that I've cried on my pillow that nobody
Speaker 1: else knows about him, that he sees what's going on
Speaker 1: in my soul. That I can cover up in front
Speaker 1: of people, but I can't hide from him. After I
Speaker 1: got done crying about that, I got kind of angry
Speaker 1: because I thought, if he could see them, why didn't
Speaker 1: he stop it? All of a sudden, it felt kind
Speaker 1: of cruel to me that he would send them into
Speaker 1: a storm and see them in the storm and not
Speaker 1: stop the storm. So I think it is significant that
Speaker 1: the Bible says that he saw the disciples verse forty eight,
Speaker 1: straining at the oars because the wind was again shortly
Speaker 1: before dawn. He went out to them, this is forty
Speaker 1: eight b walking on the lake. He was about to
Speaker 1: pass them by I thought he would never leave me.
Speaker 1: I thought he would never forsake me. I thought he
Speaker 1: promised his presence to me. And so he's about to
Speaker 1: pass them by, and they were afraid. One interesting thing
Speaker 1: about this particular record in Mark's Gospel is that it
Speaker 1: was recounted by a man named Peter. Have you heard
Speaker 1: of him. He was a very outspoken disciple of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1: He was the one, I don't know if you're like this.
Speaker 1: He would say what everybody else thought he would. He
Speaker 1: was filter free, and so when he was right, he
Speaker 1: was really right. When he was wrong, he was really wrong.
Speaker 1: I prove it to you. He said, you are the Christ,
Speaker 1: the son of the Living God. She said, you are
Speaker 1: petross this rock. You're Peter, not Simon, not shifty upon
Speaker 1: this rock. I'll build my church the rock of his
Speaker 1: revelation of who Jesus was. A few verses later, Jesus said,
Speaker 1: get behind me, Satan, and he was pointing at Peter,
Speaker 1: because Peter said, you can't go to the cross. And
Speaker 1: Peter opposed the very thing that Jesus came to do.
Speaker 1: All in the same Bible chapter. This is Peter. Peter
Speaker 1: is the one telling Mark about this story so Mark
Speaker 1: can write it down. Peter is the one recording the audiobook. Okay,
Speaker 1: Peter is the one giving Mark the gospel account. Mark
Speaker 1: wasn't a disciple. Mark was an evangelist. He compiled the story,
Speaker 1: and Peter told, look, I'm gonna sell you something. We
Speaker 1: have four of these. We have four gospel accounts. The
Speaker 1: gospel is the good News of Jesus Christ. When we
Speaker 1: say the Gospel of Mark, it's the gospel according to Mark.
Speaker 1: When we say the Gospel of Luke, the Gospel of John,
Speaker 1: the Gospel of Matthew, that's the gospel account that they
Speaker 1: wrote down. John said that Jesus did so much. If
Speaker 1: you wrote a whole book, if you tried to write
Speaker 1: down everything he did, the whole world could not contain it.
Speaker 1: If you wrote down all the works Jesus did, wikipedia
Speaker 1: would break. So they had to decide what was significant
Speaker 1: enough to put in the gospel account that would prove
Speaker 1: what they wanted to prove about who Jesus was. So
Speaker 1: when Mark got ready to write, he said, Jesus walked
Speaker 1: to the disciples in a storm, and when he got
Speaker 1: in the boat, the winds died down. When Matthew got
Speaker 1: ready to write it. He included something that Mark left out,
Speaker 1: and I'm going to read you now from Matthew fourteen.
Speaker 1: It's the same story, but there's one detail in this
Speaker 1: story that is omitted in Mark's gospel, which is based
Speaker 1: on the recollection of Peter, and it's in Matthew's gospel
Speaker 1: but not Mark. So here's what will this will be
Speaker 1: an interactive class. When I get to the part that
Speaker 1: wasn't in Mark's gospel, stop me. When I get to
Speaker 1: the part that where you're saying, wait, that wasn't in
Speaker 1: the other one that you read before, I want you
Speaker 1: to wave your hands and stop me. This is the
Speaker 1: only time that you are allowed to tell me to
Speaker 1: stop preaching. You can tell me to preach anytime you
Speaker 1: want preach fast, But when I get to this part today,
Speaker 1: I want you to stop me at every location. Let's
Speaker 1: start in verse twenty two. Immediately Jesus made the disciples
Speaker 1: get into the boat and go on ahead of him
Speaker 1: to the other side while he dismissed the crowd. After
Speaker 1: he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountain
Speaker 1: side by himself to pray. Later that night, he was
Speaker 1: there alone and the boat was already a considerable distance
Speaker 1: from land, buffeted by the ways because the wind was
Speaker 1: against it. So far, so good, We're good. Keep on,
Speaker 1: keep on. Yeah, similar, very similar, very similar, few words, different,
Speaker 1: same stuff. Shortly before dawn, Jesus went out to them
Speaker 1: walking on the lake, and when the disciples so I'm
Speaker 1: walking on the lake. They were terrified. It's a ghost,
Speaker 1: they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately
Speaker 1: said it didn't take courage it as I don't be afraid. Lord,
Speaker 1: if it's you, Peter replied to come. Okay, okay, okay,
Speaker 1: what's wrong with you? Lord? If it's you, Peter replied,
Speaker 1: tell me to come to you on the water. Come,
Speaker 1: He said, this is this is amazing. Hey, hey, if
Speaker 1: I was writing my memoir, I'll put this in because
Speaker 1: what's what happens next. Then Peter got down out of
Speaker 1: the boat, walked on water, and came toward Jesus. Well,
Speaker 1: I'm totally putting that in. I'm totally including the part
Speaker 1: where everybody else was in the boat crying out in fear,
Speaker 1: and I was walking on water, transcending the laws of buoyancy. Mabe,
Speaker 1: if I ever walk on water, and then I die
Speaker 1: and they're writing a story about my life. You make
Speaker 1: sure they don't take that part out. If I ever
Speaker 1: walk on water, and I know I do metaphorically in
Speaker 1: your heart, but if I ever physically, if they ever
Speaker 1: write about me, I'm not saying they will, but if
Speaker 1: they do, leave this in touch, somebody say this is significant.
Speaker 1: So how can Peter? This is a good question. How
Speaker 1: can Peter walk on water? And when it comes time
Speaker 1: to tell Mark what to write about this night on
Speaker 1: the sea, tell Mark, you know, I think people probably
Speaker 1: just about sick of hearing about this. Do you really
Speaker 1: think this is to your neighbors? Say yes, mister president,
Speaker 1: this is significant. I wonder if I wonder if you
Speaker 1: left it out because of verse thirty, I mean, because
Speaker 1: verse so far this is amazing. Peter. Peter's like, if
Speaker 1: it's you tell me to come. She's like, it's me come.
Speaker 1: And you know the wind is blowing so you can't
Speaker 1: hear that. Good. So Peter's like, did you hear it?
Speaker 1: He said it is me come? And John. John's like, no,
Speaker 1: he said, Peter, You're dumb, because I mean, two people
Speaker 1: can hear the same thing. It's Yanny, not Laurel. But
Speaker 1: by the way, it's Yanny. It's Yanny. It's Yanny. Come
Speaker 1: to the altar. It's Yanny. You need your ears open.
Speaker 1: I lost half the church. You're the same word a
Speaker 1: different way. And the other disciples were operating on what
Speaker 1: Jesus told them before they left, which is go go
Speaker 1: to bed, say that I'll meet you on the other side.
Speaker 1: Peter is operating out of what he feels in the moment,
Speaker 1: and he says to Jesus, if it's you tell me
Speaker 1: to come. And I've often preached about Peter getting out
Speaker 1: of the boat, but sometimes the more significant faith is
Speaker 1: the willingness to stay in the storm, not the impulse
Speaker 1: to escape it. I'm not saying Peter was wrong. I'm
Speaker 1: just saying that it takes faith to keep rowing when
Speaker 1: you can't see the shore. Sometimes it takes even more
Speaker 1: faith to stay in the boat than it does to
Speaker 1: step out of it. Peter gets to this part of
Speaker 1: the story in his recollection. He does not see fit
Speaker 1: to include the part of the story where he said
Speaker 1: to Jesus, if it's you tell me to come, And
Speaker 1: I wonder if it's because of what happened in verse
Speaker 1: thirty that he left this out of his gospel account
Speaker 1: because the Bible says that he took several steps towards Jesus,
Speaker 1: and for a moment he was walking on the water,
Speaker 1: and for a moment he was experiencing a miracle. But
Speaker 1: Verse thirty says, when he saw the wind, see he
Speaker 1: heard the word. But then he saw the wind. And
Speaker 1: I relate to this because sometimes I pay more attention
Speaker 1: to what I see than what God said. And anytime
Speaker 1: I give more focus to what I see than what
Speaker 1: God spoke, I start to sink. Peter's doing pretty good
Speaker 1: as long as he's going off of what he heard,
Speaker 1: because faith comes by hearing, and hearing comes by the
Speaker 1: word of God, and all you need is one word
Speaker 1: from God. Peter wasn't walking on water. He was walking
Speaker 1: on a word. And when you have a word from God,
Speaker 1: your kids can be acting crazy, your money can be
Speaker 1: acting funny, you can be in the darkest night of
Speaker 1: your life. But declare He is Lord. And then he
Speaker 1: saw the wind, And the Bible says when he saw
Speaker 1: the wind, he began to sink, and he cried out, Lord,
Speaker 1: save me. And I thought, well, that's why Peter left
Speaker 1: it out, Because I think people don't really need to
Speaker 1: hear about this. We can leave that out, can't we.
Speaker 1: You know, you want to leave certain things out of
Speaker 1: your story, skip over certain parts and certain failures. And
Speaker 1: there's some stuff, honestly, that you don't need to share
Speaker 1: with everybody. There's some stuff that they don't even need
Speaker 1: to know about. Sometimes your greatest testimony is that you
Speaker 1: went through the fire, but you don't smell like smoke.
Speaker 1: And when Peter was telling Mark what to right, I
Speaker 1: imagine Mark saying, shouldn't I put that part in where
Speaker 1: you climbed out of the boat, And Mark said, I
Speaker 1: don't think. I don't think you want to leave that out.
Speaker 1: Peter said, no, no, it's been a while now, because
Speaker 1: this gospel has written decades after it happened, you know.
Speaker 1: And by this point Peter has discovered something verse fifty one. Mark,
Speaker 1: chapter six, Verse fifty one. Then he climbed into the
Speaker 1: boat with them, and the wind died down. Said it's
Speaker 1: not significant what happened when I climbed out of the boat.
Speaker 1: Let's read it again. Then Jesus climbed into the boat.
Speaker 1: Peter said, don't tell him what happened when I climbed out.
Speaker 1: Tell him what happened when he climbed in. That's so good.
Speaker 1: I want to sit down and then stand up and
Speaker 1: run a lap around this Balentine building all by myself.
Speaker 1: It's not important what happened when Peter climbed out. It's
Speaker 1: not important what happened when Peter stepped out. It's not
Speaker 1: important what happened when they were straining all night, All
Speaker 1: night long, they strained to get to Jesus. But the
Speaker 1: wind didn't stop while they were straining. The wind did
Speaker 1: not die down because Peter came to Jesus. The wind
Speaker 1: died down because Jesus came to Peter. And that's the gospel,
Speaker 1: Not that I came to God, not because I was
Speaker 1: so good, not because I was so glorious, not because
Speaker 1: I got my act together. No, I'm not praising him
Speaker 1: because I got out of the boat. I'm praising him
Speaker 1: because he got in and the wind died down. Now
Speaker 1: go ahead and worship him for eighteen seconds, not because
Speaker 1: I got up because he got in. Y whoa, WHOA.
Speaker 1: I find somebody saying that's is significant, not that I
Speaker 1: loved God, but that he loved me. And I'm in
Speaker 1: a storm right now. But the storm is not significant
Speaker 1: because help is on the way. It's the contrast of
Speaker 1: straining versus submission. And he was showing them to do
Speaker 1: what he commanded the wind to do. Submit, and they
Speaker 1: they were amazed at this. They were amazed. They were
Speaker 1: amazed that the wind did what he said. In fact,
Speaker 1: the wind did what he didn't even have to tell
Speaker 1: it to do. Let me appreach to LJ for a minute.
Speaker 1: He gets bored back here because he has to play
Speaker 1: three times on the weekend. And I just want to
Speaker 1: tell him this real QUI because I didn't mentioned in
Speaker 1: any other of the worst experiences. Last time Jesus calmed
Speaker 1: the storm, he said, peace be still. So he calmed
Speaker 1: the storm with his words this time. If you check
Speaker 1: the record, he didn't even say anything to the storm.
Speaker 1: The storm stopped just because he sat down in the
Speaker 1: boat with the disciples. That lets me know that all
Speaker 1: I need is his presence. All I need is his presence.
Speaker 1: I don't need proof that he is with me. When
Speaker 1: he got in the boat, the storm sat down. When
Speaker 1: he sat down. Why he is a puppet. He is
Speaker 1: the Lord, He is the great I am. He is
Speaker 1: the bread of life. And he sent them against the
Speaker 1: wind because he needed a situation to reveal his sufficiency.
Speaker 1: That's what he needed, and so the storm served that purpose,
Speaker 1: just like the hungry crowd. Just like the hungry crowd,
Speaker 1: because verse fifty two tells us why they were a
Speaker 1: me look at somebody said, this is significant. Come on,
Speaker 1: only about forty five percent of you did what I
Speaker 1: told you to do. Tell them this is significant. They
Speaker 1: were amazed, for they had not understood about the loaves.
Speaker 1: Their hearts were hardened. What does bread have to do
Speaker 1: with a boat. And this is where we need to
Speaker 1: mention a significant miracle. This miracle is so significant that Matthew,
Speaker 1: Mark Luke, and John all put it in their memoir
Speaker 1: their audio book. They put it in even though it
Speaker 1: wasn't a resurrection or a healing. One day Jesus fed
Speaker 1: five thousand men, the women, and the children, and he
Speaker 1: did it with a little boy's lunch. I personally think
Speaker 1: Peter beat up the little boy and took his lunch.
Speaker 1: Only reason why I have kids. I've never seen my
Speaker 1: kids voluntarily do anything sacrificial. So in my mind, the
Speaker 1: little boy did not willingly offer his lunch. But you
Speaker 1: read the Bible. How you want to read the Bible
Speaker 1: on your own time? Right now? I got the microphone.
Speaker 1: Peter beat up the boy, took his lunch, brought it
Speaker 1: to Jesus. This is significant. This miracle is so significant
Speaker 1: because Jesus, when he was feeding the crowd, he was
Speaker 1: revealing himself as the Christ, and everybody ate and they
Speaker 1: all got their fill that day pointed out real quick.
Speaker 1: While we have a moment because I don't know when
Speaker 1: I'll get to see you again, somebody, you don't come
Speaker 1: to church enough. Just while we're here. The miracle came
Speaker 1: from somebody who was not even included in the official count.
Speaker 1: It was five thousand men, women, and children. God's greatest
Speaker 1: miracles often come from what people consider insignificant sources. That's
Speaker 1: why you can't let the world ever define your significance,
Speaker 1: because the world celebrates all the wrong stuff, all the
Speaker 1: wrong stuff. We find significance in status. We find significance
Speaker 1: sometimes and we even call it our significant other. Okay,
Speaker 1: but this is an announcement. You don't need any other
Speaker 1: to be significant. I'm not against the term. I'm not
Speaker 1: against the term, but you don't have to be a
Speaker 1: duchess of Sussex to be significant, no, not to be
Speaker 1: significant in the eyes of God. If significance was predicated
Speaker 1: on marital status, Jesus was insignificant. He was never merit.
Speaker 1: Neither was Paul. But the world celebrates all the wrong stuff,
Speaker 1: and so we wait for it significance to be assigned
Speaker 1: by something outside of God. But I am not significant
Speaker 1: because somebody recognized me as significant. I am significant because
Speaker 1: of someone who died for me, who created me, and
Speaker 1: who lives in me. This is significant, real quick, real quick.
Speaker 1: I'm really proud of Elevation Worship. They got nominated for
Speaker 1: a Billboard Award Christian Album Christian song, Oh Come to
Speaker 1: the Altar, and I think that's really cool and I
Speaker 1: think it's wonderful, and I don't know if we'll win
Speaker 1: it or not. Somebody said we probably won't win it
Speaker 1: this year, and it's not a competition, but I'd love
Speaker 1: to beat Hillsong. Don't put this online, edit this out,
Speaker 1: and one day maybe we will. But I'm not waiting
Speaker 1: to see if we win the award. Why I saw
Speaker 1: Oh Come to the Altar when it was born. I
Speaker 1: remember when we wrote it and imagined our church singing
Speaker 1: it and then I saw the church start to sing it,
Speaker 1: and I saw people baptized while we were singing, Oh,
Speaker 1: come to the altar. I saw people baptized while we
Speaker 1: were singing The Father's arms are open wide. Forgiveness was
Speaker 1: bought with the precious blood of Jesus Christ. So I
Speaker 1: don't need Billboard to tell me what baptism already did.
Speaker 1: So if Chris Brown gets an award, that's wonderful. But
Speaker 1: if Billboard didn't recognize, Oh, come to the altar, touch
Speaker 1: somebody say, it's still significant. And if people appreciate me,
Speaker 1: that's wonderful. But if they never recognized me, I'm still significant.
Speaker 1: There's a word for somebody. If I got a date, great,
Speaker 1: If I don't, I'm still significant. If I get the job, wonderful.
Speaker 1: If I don't, I'm still significant. If you like me,
Speaker 1: good less hung it out, but it not, Pops. I'm
Speaker 1: almost stunned. This is significant. This is significant because I
Speaker 1: saw Chris Brown in a prison during Love Week. He
Speaker 1: wasn't a member, was there voluntarily for the record. He
Speaker 1: was singing, and he finished singing, and we were leaving.
Speaker 1: I preached, He's saying, and a prisoner came up to
Speaker 1: me and said, before you go, can you single come
Speaker 1: to the altar. That's the song that got me through.
Speaker 1: And I hope he can get a billboard. But I
Speaker 1: watched him single come to the Altar to one prisoner,
Speaker 1: and that was significant. This is significant this season. It's
Speaker 1: hard to see the significance of the season you're in.
Speaker 1: You see it better when you're out of it. That's
Speaker 1: why it's hard to raise kids. I love being a parent.
Speaker 1: I joke about it a lot. Is actually my favorite
Speaker 1: thing that I do. I just play around like as
Speaker 1: hard as really for me, it's just super easy. I
Speaker 1: just I always know the wisdom and I'm always like
Speaker 1: watching my kids play all these sports. It's kind of
Speaker 1: hard sometimes because now they've got so much pressure on
Speaker 1: us as parents. Maybe this is a suburban thing. I
Speaker 1: don't know. You gotta be at every recital or your
Speaker 1: kid's gonna end up in therapy as a serial killer.
Speaker 1: It's pressure. But I try to get out there running
Speaker 1: around and is this significant? Is this significant? And then
Speaker 1: I get I get caught up an insignificant things and
Speaker 1: I missed significant things, like the Disciples almost missed the
Speaker 1: miracle that day of the Feeding of the five thousand,
Speaker 1: the one that's in all four gospels. Maybe that's why
Speaker 1: they all included it, because they all almost missed it
Speaker 1: because they wanted to send the crowds away. I show
Speaker 1: you something real quick. This is this is Graham. You
Speaker 1: got it in the back. I didn't use it the
Speaker 1: other times, but yeah, this is Graham pinning a joker.
Speaker 1: It was good. It was a little tournament that was
Speaker 1: the championship match of the tournament. It was on a Saturday.
Speaker 1: Normally I'd be preaching that particular Saturday. I had somebody
Speaker 1: else preaching for me. Look who he's looking at. Now,
Speaker 1: guess who he's looking at when he's a minute, I mean,
Speaker 1: he just pinned him. The ref just slapped the mat
Speaker 1: and he looks up like what. And I like it
Speaker 1: because I like it because what he said to me
Speaker 1: when he came back up. I said, isn't they cool?
Speaker 1: How I wentn't preaching today so I could watch you
Speaker 1: in this tournament? And what if I had missed it?
Speaker 1: He said, well, if you had missed it, I probably
Speaker 1: wouldn't have won it. And I was like, if you
Speaker 1: never say anything, just never talk again until you go
Speaker 1: to college. Let's end on that note the same thing.
Speaker 1: You could take it down, although I'd be happy to
Speaker 1: put it on Instagram for you Instagram anyway, It's hard
Speaker 1: to know. Sometimes you don't always get to see the
Speaker 1: gold medal. They don't hand out a gold medal. In fact,
Speaker 1: when it says that the disciples did not understand about
Speaker 1: the loaves, they were amazed, because show the verse again,
Speaker 1: verse fifty two. This first got my attention. Really, this
Speaker 1: is my whole message, because it says they were amazed
Speaker 1: when he got in the boat and the winds died
Speaker 1: because they had not understood about the loaves. It just happened.
Speaker 1: It was the thing that happened right before the storm.
Speaker 1: It had just happened. It wasn't years later, and they
Speaker 1: forgot it had just happened. You know how God provides
Speaker 1: for you, and then you go into a different test
Speaker 1: and you forget the lesson because it's a different test,
Speaker 1: and God provided for you in a bigger way back there.
Speaker 1: But now you're struggling with a little thing here and
Speaker 1: you trip over an insignificant thing. God has already done
Speaker 1: the most significant thing, which is to save your soul.
Speaker 1: They understood about the loaves on one level, physically they ate.
Speaker 1: They understood about the loaves on one level, the crowds
Speaker 1: were fed. But what they didn't understand is that Jesus
Speaker 1: did not feed the multitudes so they could know what
Speaker 1: he did. He fed the multitude so they could know
Speaker 1: who he was. The lesson of the loaves is not
Speaker 1: I am your burger, king your way right away. The
Speaker 1: lesson of the loaves is not that you will never
Speaker 1: be hungry, or you will never hurt, or you will
Speaker 1: never wonder, or you will never doubt. The lesson of
Speaker 1: the loaves is I am the bread of life. I am.
Speaker 1: It is me. It was me when you were hungry.
Speaker 1: It was me when you were lonely. It was me
Speaker 1: when you were depressed. It was me when you were anxious.
Speaker 1: It was me on the mountaintop, it was me in
Speaker 1: the valley. The Lord is my shepherd. I shall not
Speaker 1: want I will fear no evil. He is with me
Speaker 1: in this moment. It's me. It was me then, and
Speaker 1: it's me now. It was me that got you through that.
Speaker 1: It's me that will see you through this. And if
Speaker 1: I am in the boat, the wind must submit to
Speaker 1: my word. I am with you. And they didn't get
Speaker 1: it they saw the miracle, They experienced the miracle. They're
Speaker 1: the ones who handed out the bread to the people.
Speaker 1: But you can experience a miracle and miss the significance.
Speaker 1: So God saved you, But what did he save you
Speaker 1: for so you could spend the rest of your life
Speaker 1: carrying the shame he died to take away and nail
Speaker 1: to his cross? Is that what he saved you for?
Speaker 1: God saved you, But what did he save you for
Speaker 1: so you could live the rest of your life just
Speaker 1: as selfish as you lived the first part of your life,
Speaker 1: but with a cross around your neck this time? What
Speaker 1: did he save you for? You can experience the miracle
Speaker 1: of salvation but miss the significant something. God didn't just
Speaker 1: save you from. He saved you for a purpose, a mission,
Speaker 1: a calling. And the miracle was not just that the
Speaker 1: people were fed. The miracle was not just that they
Speaker 1: ate bread. The miracle is not just what God does
Speaker 1: for you. The miracle is that you see who He is.
Speaker 1: This is beautiful. It is so beautiful that it bears repeating.
Speaker 1: It bears repeating, and in Mark chapter eight, this miracle
Speaker 1: is so significant it happens again. One way you can
Speaker 1: tell when something is important is when it is repeated.
Speaker 1: So the disciples find themselves in a situation that is
Speaker 1: very similar. There's a big crowd and there's no food.
Speaker 1: You know, like last time when you were worried and
Speaker 1: upset and you didn't think you were gonna make it,
Speaker 1: and you made it. And now here you are again,
Speaker 1: and the wind's blowing again, and you don't think you're
Speaker 1: gonna make it. A spoiler alert, you will. That's thee
Speaker 1: lesson of the Lows. That's the lesson of the I
Speaker 1: didn't mean to ruin the movie for you. But at
Speaker 1: the end of this thing, you're gonna be in Beth Sayda.
Speaker 1: Because if he told you I'll meet you on the
Speaker 1: other side, you don't die in the lake in the
Speaker 1: middle of the night. Come on, cherch has he not
Speaker 1: shown you? Don't you see it? Don't you hear it?
Speaker 1: It's the same voice, the same God. And so he
Speaker 1: feeds the crowd. In Mark chapter eight, and the Bible
Speaker 1: says Mark eight fourteen, the disciples had forgotten to bring bread.
Speaker 1: Stand up, it'll make me close, quicker, don't leave, it'll
Speaker 1: make me angry. The disciples had forgotten to bring bread
Speaker 1: except for one loaf. They had with them in the boat.
Speaker 1: I don't mean to correct the scripture, but there were
Speaker 1: actually two loaves in the boat. One of them was
Speaker 1: the bread they could see. Be careful, Jesus warned them,
Speaker 1: watch out for the yeast of the Pharisees and that
Speaker 1: of Herod. He is warning them against the seemingly insignificant
Speaker 1: compromises that corrode your faith. Watch out, he said, your
Speaker 1: words are significant, your habits are significant, your friendships are significant.
Speaker 1: Watch out for that yeast. And when he said yeast,
Speaker 1: they thought about bread. And they discussed this with one
Speaker 1: another and said, it is because we have no bread.
Speaker 1: They still didn't get it. They saw him do it,
Speaker 1: and they still didn't get that he was it. They're
Speaker 1: still worried about provision. You're still worried about bills. You're
Speaker 1: still worried. We're still thinking on the level of what
Speaker 1: we can see. Jesus, aware of their discussion, asked them
Speaker 1: a question, why are you talking about having no bread?
Speaker 1: Why are you worrying about something that I've already worked out?
Speaker 1: Why are you doubting something that you've already seen me
Speaker 1: do so many times before. Do you still not see
Speaker 1: or understand? Are your hearts hardened? Do you have eyes
Speaker 1: but fail to see? And ears but failed to hear?
Speaker 1: Do you still hear Laurel when it's really Yanny? And
Speaker 1: don't you remember when I broke the five loaves for
Speaker 1: the five thousand, how many basketfuls of pieces did you
Speaker 1: pick up? Twelve? They reply? When I read that, I
Speaker 1: thought the significance of the miracle is in the numbers.
Speaker 1: You know, five is the number of grace in the Bible.
Speaker 1: It represents graces symbolic, twelve disciples, twelve tribes, a number
Speaker 1: of government. So I thought it was about the numbers.
Speaker 1: But then verse twenty says when I broke the seven
Speaker 1: loaves for the four thousand, how many basketballs and pieces
Speaker 1: did you pick up? And then I said, well, seven's
Speaker 1: the number of completion and four thousand. Really, I can't
Speaker 1: really do anything with that. They answered seven. He said,
Speaker 1: do you still not understand? And then I read it
Speaker 1: again verse nineteen, Verse nineteen, verse nineteen when I broke,
Speaker 1: And then I read verse twenty when I broke, and
Speaker 1: I realized the significance of the miracle is that the
Speaker 1: bread had to be broken. They wouldn't understand this really
Speaker 1: until he went to the cross, they ate the bread,
Speaker 1: but they did not understand the significance until he was
Speaker 1: crushed for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities, because
Speaker 1: the bread couldn't be given until it was broken. When
Speaker 1: you were in a breaking season of your life, being
Speaker 1: broken of your pride and your stubbornness, your opinions, and
Speaker 1: you're straining against the wind, it is easy to begin
Speaker 1: to believe that it is going to break you. But
Speaker 1: God will not allow life to break you. That's his job.
Speaker 1: And when you're in his hands, like the song said,
Speaker 1: prepare that chorus of do it again, We're going to
Speaker 1: sing it. I'm still in your hands. We're going to
Speaker 1: sing that, and we're going to understand that the lesson
Speaker 1: of the loaves is not that everybody went home with
Speaker 1: a full belly. The lesson of the loaves is this.
Speaker 1: The end of your story is not that you are broken.
Speaker 1: The end of the story is the basket false. This
Speaker 1: story does not end in brokenness. This story ends with leftovers.
Speaker 1: I want to let you know today this is significant.
Speaker 1: God is not done with you. I set God, it
Speaker 1: is not done with you. I'm preaching this word for
Speaker 1: somebody who's been straining against the wind. Grace is coming
Speaker 1: to your pope. The bread is in the Master's hands,
Speaker 1: and the bread was only broken to be given. Lift
Speaker 1: your hands in the presence of God, no one moving.
Speaker 1: This is my confidence that he is faithful, faithfulness. I'm
Speaker 1: stealing your hands. This is my conference. You never you
Speaker 1: promise seals stands. Greed is your faithfulness, faithfulness. I'm sealing you.
Speaker 1: This is my contents. You never you draw mes SEUs
Speaker 1: its greed is your faithless faith seals. This is my confidence. Listen,
Speaker 1: here's what you do. You take what you learned from
Speaker 1: the loaves, and you remember it in the storm. You
Speaker 1: take the basketful from the last time that God provided
Speaker 1: for you, and the next time the wind begins to
Speaker 1: rage in your life, you remember that if Jesus is
Speaker 1: in this boat with me, if I draw near to God,
Speaker 1: he will draw near to me. And as we worship
Speaker 1: him as the Son of God, today the wind has
Speaker 1: to die down. Anxiety has to shut its mouth in
Speaker 1: the bressives of God. Because we know who he is,
Speaker 1: and we've seen what he's done. We have faithful what
Speaker 1: He's gonna do to see anybody believe He's with you
Speaker 1: in this season. Time. Well, I hope you enjoyed the
Speaker 1: podcast today. If you did, there are just a couple
Speaker 1: things I'd love for you to do. Number One, subscribe
Speaker 1: to our show. That way, the most recent episode will
Speaker 1: always be in your feed, waiting for you, ready when
Speaker 1: you are. And Secondly, if this ministry has impacted you
Speaker 1: and you'd like to help us continue to reach others,
Speaker 1: you can click the link in the description and you
Speaker 1: can give now and I'll see you next time on
Speaker 1: the Elevation Podcast.