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
B) Floods in
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
#4 The
#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
Record
snowfalls paralyzed
"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
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
It came as a huge surprise
to 100’s of
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
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
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
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
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
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.
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.