Hope for the Hopeless Part 2

Matthew 8:23-27  Hope for Those Who are Going Through Storms

 

Each week we are looking at different scenes where we find pp in a hopeless situation – Brought Hope thru Christ -  Last week Hope … Struggling in sin 

 

Today: Hope for those going through Storms  

                       RD V 23-27                    

 

Intro: We have seen over the last couple of months some serious storms batter US Soil

A) Tornados that ripped thru Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas and Alabama.

 

B) Floods in Indiana and Kentucky.

 

C) Got me thinking – did some research Worst Storms in US History?

1) Top six in reverse order

 

#6 The Great Hurricane of 1938 was the first major hurricane to strike New England since 1869. The storm formed near the coast of Africa in September, becoming a Category 5 hurricane, before making landfall as a Category 3 hurricane on Long Island on September 21. The hurricane killed over 682 people, damaged or destroyed over 57,000 homes, and caused property losses estimated at $4.7 billion dollars in damages.

 

#5 Hurricane Katrina. One of the five deadliest hurricanes in the history of the United States.

. At least 1,836 people lost their lives in Hurricane Katrina and in the subsequent floods, making it the deadliest U.S. hurricane since 1928 The storm is estimated to have been responsible for $81.2 billion dollars in damages, making it the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history.

 

#4 The Galveston Hurricane of 1900: The H made landfall on the city of Galveston, Texas on September 8, 1900.  A Category 4 Storm with winds estimated at 145 mph. Warm weather conditions and high surf brought vacationers to the beach, convinced the storm was heading toward Florida. But the storm barreled ashore in Galveston at 8pm triggering enormous storm surge that swept 8,000 people out to sea to their deaths and caused 20 million dollars in damages.

 

 

#3 Super Storm of 1993

It was late in the evening on Friday, March 12, 1993, when this storm – one of the largest and most intense storms on record – began to grip the eastern third of the United States. The ensuing blizzard crippled much of the eastern third of the country, from Alabama to New England, with record cold, snow, and wind gusts well in excess of hurricane force.

 

Record snowfalls paralyzed Georgia, Tennessee, and the Appalachians. Winds pushed snowdrifts ten to fourteen feet high in Tennessee and Pennsylvania.

 

"The storm was so intense and widespread there were actually seven states that saw more than

40 inches of snow in certain locations,".

 

For the first time, every single major airport on the East Coast had to close at one time or another because of the storm. An estimated 25 percent of the nation's airline flights were cancelled. The storm  Killed 270 people and caused 3 billion dollars in damages.

 

#2 1974, super tornado outbreak. It was the worst tornado outbreak in U.S. history with 148 twisters touching down in 13 states. Before it was over 16 hours later, 330 people were dead and over 5,000pp were injured in a damage path covered more than 2,500 miles.   Six of the Twisters reached f-5 Status reaching speeds of 256 MPH-the strongest winds ever recorded on planet earth.

Tracker trailers were sucked up 350ft into the air and thrown miles from where they started.   Damages 3.5 Billion dollars

 

#1 Labor Day Hurricane of 1935 called the Storm of the Century

Most powerful storm in US History – Category 5 winds of over 200mph Crashed into the coast of South Florida.

 

It came as a huge surprise to 100’s of US war veterans who were living there in tents waiting to be put to work by the Govt to build an interstate Hwy.

17-20 ft storm surge crashed into the coast taking 421 lives – much more had the area been more populated. Costing 71 million dollars in damages.

 

Here in Matthew Ch.8 we find the disciples in a storm – that to them was just as serious as any of the storms I just mentioned

A) To them this was huge – which is exactly how you feel about the storm you are currently going thru –

 

B) Someone else might view it as a thunder storm – but to you it is a hurricane.

 

C) One thing I have learned in the ministry is there is no sense trying to down grade the pain that a hurting person feels.

1) Pain causes the loss of the sufferers objectivity.

 

Maybe you have heard the definition of minor surgery. It is surgery on someone else.

A) If I am having surgery it is always major surgery.    

     The most intense pain is always the pain I am in.

 

B) The same is true concerning the storms of life.

1) From my perspective the world’s worse storm in the storm I am in right now

 

C) Storms: A business deal amongst friends goes south – that is a storm.

1) You find out your teenager is dabbling in drugs or porn– that is a storm

Your boss says I am sorry but we are going to have to lay you off and you are already over your head in debt – that is a storm.

 

You have been diagnosed with a terminal illness – that is a storm

 

Your Child’s report card is horrible – they are failing every class – that is a storm

 

Someone in your office is spreading rumors about you  - that is a storm

 

This morning I want you to imagine being a passenger in this boat with the disciples and Jesus.

A) Interesting that in Jan 1986 a major discovery in Israel – drought had caused the level of the sea of Galilee to drop –

 

B) Two brothers walking along the shore discovered something pertruding out of the mud – discovery was  a 1st century fishing boat

 

C) Been called the Jesus boat – definitely the kind of boat that Jesus and his disciples would have used on the lake

 

D) 26 ½ feet long 7 ½ ft wide 4 ½ ft deep – Probably one of the larger boats you would find on the lake at that time  Rowed or wind driven.

 

The Jewish Historian Josephus tells us that these boats could easily hold 20 passengers

A) And based on Archeologist skeletal remains in Israel – the average ht and wt of a 1st century Jewish man is 5’5” 140lbs

 

B) So that being the case – if you have 12 disciples plus Jesus all around that size in a boat that could hold 20 passengers –

1) There would be plenty of room for Jesus to stretch out and take a nap

 

C) It is great to know that Jesus was tired, just as we become tired.

1) He, too, could reach the point of exhaustion when the need to sleep is inescapable.

 

 (Hebrews 4:15-16 ) For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin. {16} Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

 

So imagine yourself in the boat that day – one of the disciples on sea of Galilee that day.

A) The Sea of Galilee is really a lake The Eye …

13 miles long 7 ½ miles wide at it’s widest spot.

 

B) Pretty shallow – too only 150-200 ft deep

1) The lakes sits 685 ft below sea level- which is part of the reason why it is susceptible to sudden storms

 

C) To the west, around 30 miles away is the Mediterranean Sea. { Warm winds rise over MTs

1) Luke was perfectly accurate when he stated that the wind “Came down on the lake.

 

D) Because of these extreme temperature differences between the low lying Galilee and the Med.

1) Winds will suddenly come roaring down the canyon in the area of Magdala and in a moment the lake can be stirred into a boiling cauldron with massive waves.

 

E) Matthew uses the term tempest –SEISMOS (We get our word seismic…. Earthquake from this word)

1) Underwater earthquake

 

 

3 Lessons we learn from this story:

#1 Storms will come and when they do they can be intense.

 

#2 When Jesus is your captain – Calm will also come because Jesus calms storms

 

#3 Between the Storm and the calm we need to come to Jesus –

But There is a right way to come and a wrong way to come.

 

Storms will come / Calm will come / We must come.

 

 

 

When do storms Come?

A)V.23 “Now when He got into a boat, His disciples followed Him.”

 

B) They were following Jesus – he takes them into an intense storm

 

C) LK Jesus said lets cross over to the other side. – so this was his idea

 

Many people have the idea that storms come to their lives only when they have disobeyed God, but this is not always the case.

A) True of Jonah  He ended up in a storm because of his disobedience

 

B) But the disciples got into a storm BECAUSE of their obedience to the Lord!

 

C) Rebuked – Demons Satanic in origin{Our storms

 

Now remember at least 4 of the disciples were fishermen! 

And They were used to the sudden storms that could erupt on the sea of Galilee  which is why they might have waited so  long to wake up Jesus

 

B) Matthew tells us that the ship was covered with the waves:

1) Luke also tells us that that “They were filling with water and were in jeopardy ( = in peril).”

C) In their own confidence in their own experience – they might have felt hey we got this – no problem

1) But this storm was unusual causing even the most experienced of the sea men in the group to panic.

 

INSIGHT: Sometimes Jesus takes us into territory that we’re familiar with…. comfortable in -

A) And then he let’s the seismos in on us

 

B) And suddenly we learn that even in our strengths we are helpless without Him.

 

C) The storm was a part of that day’s curriculum.

 

D) It would help the disciples understand a lesson that they didn’t even know they needed to learn

1) That Jesus has ABSOLUTE AUTHORITY… Jesus can be trusted in the storms of life.

 

PT Following Jesus – no guarantee – avoid storms

 

 

Just like Storms on the sea of Galilee can come suddenly without warning

A) The storms of life work in the same way- come suddenly without warning

 

Aa) Perhaps you are facing a storm of seismic proportions

 

B) Your life is shaken – fierce winds are blowing winds waves are crashing and you feel like you are about to go under

 

C) In fact your storm is so severe that you have lost sight of your destination and you are just trying to stay  afloat

 

Can I encourage you to remember something – Huge Jesus is in your boat

A) Just like He was with the disciples He is with you

 

B) He promised He would never leave you nor forsake you

 

Now notice what Jesus was doing on the boat –

He was asleep – He was at total rest

A) And that is what He is doing in the midst of your storm as well – never met a storm that intimidated Him

 

B) Not pacing – not worried – what Mess has Rob got himself into !

 

C) He is at rest and He wants us to be a rest.

 

Storms will come but when Jesus is the captain of your boat #2 calm will also come

A) It will come to pass – the storms don’t last forever

 

B) V.26  Jesus rebuked the wind and the waves

Result Great calm

C) Notice it was immediate – the wind and waves bowed in homage to their master

1) V.24 Great Storm / v26 Great calm

V.27 the Disciples marveled who can this be that the wind and waves obey him.

 

D) Jesus controls nature, does that excite you ?

1)We need to watch that we don’t become so familiar with these stories that they no longer Wow us!

2)This was a WOW MOMENT – MARVELED!

 

WOW MOMENTS:

 

What manner of man is that that he calms storms / rebuke demons transform lives and cleanse sins

What manner of man is ? He is the God man

 

Storms come / Calm comes   #3 We must come !

 

D)But There is a right way to come and a wrong way to come

 

LK tells us the disciples woke Jesus up in a panic and said – Lord don’t you care we are going to perish

A)That is first thing the devil wants us to believe in the midst of our storm is that God doesn’t care – that GOD has abandoned us

 

B)Ever felt this way?: Lord I am trying to follow you trying to do what is right and here I am in this mess – what is going on Lord?

C)The disciples followed Jesus into the boat when the sun was shinning and the sky was blue

1) But when the storm comes the whole perspective changes

 

D) Israel on one side of the Red Sea – one side complaining critical { Stone Moses

1) Other side praising - - Praising on the wrong side

 

 

We need to follow Jesus not just to the boat but thru the storm that is when Faith becomes real.

A) It is one thing to LEARN a new spiritual truth, but something different all together to PRACTICE that truth in everyday life.

 

B) Satan knows that academic truth is not a threat to him or his kingdom.

1) It is truth that is ACTIVE, truth that is LIVED out that is threatening to him.

 

Real faith doesn’t just board the boat but it acts a certain way once inside the boat

A)It was great that they woke Jesus up! Where they failed was the way they woke him up panicked

 

B) Because of the Storm they had lost all faith

1) Jesus says Why are you fearful o you of little faith

 

C) Jesus is saying something huge: As long as I am in the boat – as long as I am with you – no need to fear!

Lesson

Faith or the right way to approach Jesus is never learned from the shore.

 

If you want to learn faith it is learned only from deep inside the hull of the boat in the midst of the storm

 

George Muller wrote: The only way to end up with strong faith is to endure great trials.

 

Hudson Taylor put it another way: “At the timber line where the storms strike with the most fury the sturdiest trees are found.”

 

Here is my point: It is only in the boat in the midst of the storm that you feel fear

A) But it is also only in the boat in the midst of the storm that you learn faith!

 

B) When things are going smooth there is no fear but there is also a need for faith

 

C) It is only in that sea in the midst of the storms and the shifting waves that we learn faith!

 

George MacDonald: “Any faith in God however small is bigger than any belief about him however great.”

 

D) You see faith is more than just a set of beliefs Faith is belief with muscle.

E) It is truth that I can see from the shore but I am willing to live out from the belly of a boat being tossed and turned by the waves

 

F) In the short faith is Knowledge that has grown courage.

 

A school teacher injured his back and had to wear a plaster cast around the upper part of his body. The cast fit under his shirt and was not noticeable at all.

On the first day of the term, still with the cast under his shirt, he found himself assigned to the toughest students in school.

Walking confidently into the rowdy classroom, he opened the window as wide as possible and then started to get busy with some work on his desk.

 

Suddenly a strong breeze came up, making his tie flap. He reached for the desk stapler and with 3 big staples bam bam bam he stapled his tie to his chest.

He had no trouble with discipline in that Class all year!

 

Listen: You will find that your problems will be put in perspective the minute you add courage to the truth that you already know.

A) From the shore we see the truth but in the boat we live what we know.

 

B) We have got to add courage to what we know

 

C) Storms come that ruffles you and you have got to staple courage to your heart.

 

Storms come / Calm Comes /  We must Come

 

Faith stands up in the storm Faith follows Jesus both to and thru the storm

 

Learn to keep our eyes on Jesus in the storm realizing that He is at rest so we can be.

 

Isaiah 26:3

“You will keep him in perfect peace , whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.