Persevering Faith
Sermon Notes
This is the last week in our 4 wk teaching series called Sustaining Faith, which is a series about having a faith that doesn’t fade. So far in this series we’ve talked about the importance of having a focused faith, a deeper faith, and a risky faith, meaning a faith that’ll risk doing something instead of nothing. Well today we’re talking about the importance of having a persevering faith.
Now perseverance is something that’s critical for so many different things in life. For example you need to persevere through difficult subjects in school, to have a degree. You need to persevere through difficult training in sports, to have endurance. You need to persevere through difficult failures in your life and career, to have success in your life and career. Thomas Edison once said, “Many of life’s failures are people who didn’t realize how close they were to success, when they gave up.” In fact Thomas Edison was told by his teachers that he was too stupid to learn anything, but he persevered and became one of the most successful inventors in history. As a child people thought Albert Einstein was mentally handicapped, but he persevered and became one of the most brilliant scientists in history. As an athlete Michael Jordan got cut from his high school basketball team, but he persevered and became one of the greatest basketball players in history. My point is perseverance is critical for so many different things in life, and today we’re talking about the importance of having perseverance when it comes to our faith. We’re talking about having a persevering faith, especially when we’re facing difficulties in life. Let’s turn to Matthew 14 and get into it. If you open the bible to the middle and keep turning right, you’ll find Matthew. We’ll be in Matthew 14:22-33, and the title of today’s message is Persevering Faith. The big idea of the message is we can make it through any storms in life, with a persevering faith in Christ...We can make it through any storms in life, with a persevering faith in Christ...
Here’s your context. In Matthew ch’s 14-16 the identity of Jesus is being revealed by several miraculous events like feeding 5000 people, walking on water, calming a storm, and healing many people. These events are revealing that Jesus is God, the messianic savior who’s come to save us and heal the wounds that sin and death have caused. Our focus will be on the time when Jesus walks on water and calms a storm, because in this story we’ll see a friend of Jesus named Peter start out strong in his faith, but he doesn’t finish strong. Let’s check it out.
Matthew 14:22-33 states, “Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 After dismissing the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. Well into the night he was there alone. 24 Meanwhile the boat was already some distance from land, battered by the waves, because the wind was against them. 25 Jesus came toward them walking on the sea...” What’s happening here is the disciples are battling a storm in the Sea of Galilee, which is known for having sudden hurricane like storms. We know this was a bad storm, because their boat was being battered by the waves. Jesus sees them from the mountain he’s praying on and starts heading toward them walking on the sea. Jesus isn’t walking on a sandbar, because the Sea of Galilee is 150 ft deep which is too deep for a sandbar. He isn’t walking on the shoreline, because John’s gospel says he’s 3-4 miles off the shoreline. So what’s happening here is a unique miraculous event, and I love that he’s walking instead of running on the water. He’s walking on the water instead of panicking and running on the water during this fierce storm. He can be a calming peaceful presence to the disciples in this fierce storm, and he can be a calming peaceful presence to us in our fierce storms.
Again vs. 25, “Jesus came toward them walking on the sea, very early in the morning.” Some of your translations say Jesus doesn’t come to them until the fourth watch, which was Roman Military time for around 3-6:00 in the morning. The Roman Military divided the night into four 3 hr watches, so the fourth watch was 3-6:00 in the morning. The disciples started battling this storm in the evening, but Jesus come until the morning, which means they’ve been battling this storm for several hours. So they’re tried, scared, wondering if they’ll even survive since their boat’s getting battered by the storm. But then they see Jesus, walking on the sea.
Vs. 26, “When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified. They said, ‘It’s a ghost!’ and they cried out in fear. 27 Immediately Jesus spoke to them. ‘Have courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.’” Notice Jesus responds to their cries. They cried out in fear, and Jesus responds to their cries. He responds saying “Have courage...don’t be afraid.” Some of you need to hear that this morning...You need to hear Jesus saying “I know what you’re going through. I know you’re facing a fierce storm. But have courage, don’t be afraid...because I’m with you in the storm.” Jesus is willing to respond to our cries, but we need to be willing to cry out to him for help. What we’re learning is a persevering faith cries out to Jesus in a storm. People who have a persevering faith are willing to cry out to Jesus in a storm, and Jesus is willing to respond to our cries. I mean Jesus doesn’t help them, until they cried out in fear. We learn a little more details about this in the gospel of Mark. Mark 6:48 states, “Jesus saw them straining at the oars, because the wind was against them. Very early in the morning he came toward them walking on the sea, and he wanted to pass by them.” It says Jesus saw them straining to row through the storm, and he wanted to pass by them but he didn’t. Instead of passing by them, he stayed close to them. Instead of passing by them, he walked close to them. He did this so they’d see he was there and willing to help, but they needed to be willing to cry out to him for help.
Now just like Jesus was close to them in this storm, Jesus is close to you in your storm. He’s close and willing to help, but you need to be willing to cry out to him for help. See one of the reasons Jesus is letting them strain and struggle in this storm, is so they’ll realize they need to cry out to him for help and rely on him as their Savior. He’s letting them row through this storm without him, so they’ll realize they can’t survive without him. Sometimes Jesus lets us row through a storm, he lets us feel the strains and struggles of trying to row through life without him, so we’ll realize we can’t keep living our lives without him. Sometimes he lets us go through a storm instead of around a storm...Sometimes he lets us go through a storm instead of around a storm, so we’ll realize we need to cry out to him and rely on him as our Savior. People who have a persevering faith know that Jesus never promises to take us around the storms of life, he promises to be close to us and to help us through the storms of life. He’s always close to us and willing to help us, but we need to be willing to cry out to him for help like the disciples did.
Again vs. 26 states, “They cried out in fear. 27 Immediately Jesus spoke to them. ‘Have courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.’ 28 And Peter answered him, ‘Lord if it’s you, command me to come to you on the water.’ 29 Jesus said, ‘Come.’ And climbing out of the boat, Peter started walking on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the strength of the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’” Okay so Peter starts strong in his faith. He’s the only one who had the faith to climb out the boat, and to walk on water toward Jesus. But in vs 30 his faith starts fading when he saw the strength of the wind, and he starts sinking. He starts sinking because he starts focusing more on the strength of the wind than the strength of Jesus. He starts sinking because he starts focusing more on the storm than the Savior. So what we’re learning here is a persevering faith focuses and refocuses on Jesus in a storm. People who have a persevering faith are willing to cry out to Jesus in a storm, but they’re also willing to focus and refocus on Jesus in a storm. Peter starts sinking when he focuses more on the storm than the Savior, and we’ll start sinking when we focus more on the storm than the Savior.
But Jesus is very patient with Peter and us when this happens. How do we know he’s patient? He lets Peter sink, but he doesn’t let him drown...Jesus lets Peter slowly sink, but he doesn’t let him fully sink to the point of drowning...I mean let’s say this gym was one giant pool. What would happen if I stepped off this stage into the pool? Would I slowly sink, or would I quickly sink?...I’d quickly sink...The only way I’d slowly sink, is if something was holding me up so I wouldn’t quickly sink...The reason Peter doesn’t quickly sink, the reason he doesn’t fully sink to the point of drowning, is because Jesus is holding him up in the storm. It’s because Jesus is still holding Peter up, even though Peter’s faith isn’t holding up. Jesus still being willing to hold Peter up is an act of grace. But Jesus allowing Peter to slowly sink is also an act of grace. It’s an act of grace because his sinking is what causes him to cry out to Jesus again. Peter needed to slowly sink so he’d refocus his life on Jesus again. Sometimes as an act of grace Jesus lets us start sinking, so we’ll refocus our lives on him again. The areas I’m sinking the most in my life, are always the areas where I’m trying to row through life without Jesus. It’s the areas where I’m focusing more on the strength of the storm and my own will power, than the strength of the Savior and his eternal power. So as an act of grace he’ll let me slowly sink until I refocus my life on him again. If it feels like you’ve been sinking, drowning in a storm, then do what Peter does. Focus more on the Savior than the storm. Lay down your paddles, and refocus your life on Jesus.
Again vs. 30, “But when he saw the strength of the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ 31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand, caught hold of him, and said to him, ‘You of little faith, why did you doubt?’” So Peter cries out to Jesus again, he refocuses his life on Jesus again, and Jesus responds to his cries again. When Jesus says why did you doubt, he’s addressing more than the depth of Peter’s faith. He’s addressing the duration of Peter’s faith, which is weakening the depth of Peter’s faith. Remember Peter’s faith started out very strong, but it didn’t last very long. The issue is the duration of his faith started fading, and that’s when he started sinking. Everybody starts sinking at some point, because everybody has a duration of faith issue. Everybody has a duration of faith issue, including the strongest believers who are willing to climb out of the boat like Peter. But Peter does the right thing by crying out to Jesus again, by refocusing his life on Jesus again, and Jesus steps in to help Peter again.
Vs. 32, “When they got in the boat, the wind ceased. 33 Then those in the boat worshiped him and said, ‘Truly you are the Son of God.’” The wind ceased, meaning Jesus calmed the storm. Jesus walked on water, but he also calmed the storm, which is why they worshiped him. It’s because they knew Jesus was God, since only God can do miraculous things like that. In fact in vs 27 when Jesus says “Have courage it is I,” in the original Greek he says ego eimi, which means I AM. The phrase I AM is God’s name in the Old Testament. So when Jesus says this what they hear him saying is “Have courage, because I am God!” This is why Peter suddenly gets the faith to walk on water. It’s because he realizes Jesus is God and he wants Jesus to save him. The entire point of this miraculous event is to reveal that Jesus is God. He’s the God whose power can control the water molecules, so he can walk on water. He’s the God whose power can control the storm molecules or calm the storm molecules, so he can use it in ways that’ll help refocus his followers lives. He’s the God whose power can save us, transform us, help us make it through any storms we’ll ever face in life. He’s the God whose very close to us when we’re in a storm, and he’s willing to help us through the storm. But we need to be willing to cry out to him for help, and we need to have a persevering faith that’s willing to focus and refocus our lives on him.
Now when it comes 2023, there’s a lot of storms in our world right now. We’re facing a storm in inflation, a storm in moral decline, a storm in rapid technological advancements like AI...We’re facing a storm in terrorism, a storm in shifting global powers, a storm in wars and threats of a possible WW3...We’re facing all kinds of storms, and it’s causing a lot of people to be filled with fear and anxiety. But this isn’t a time to fade in our faith, it’s a time to be sustained by our faith. It’s a time to find peace in the storms, which is why we decided our yearly focus in 2024 will be on peace. It’ll be on how can we bring much peace into our lives, relationships, and city? Throughout 2024 we’ll be offering different classes, conferences, teaching series that can help bring peace into areas of our lives like our marriages, parenting, busy schedules, and more. We’ll start transitioning into this 2024 focus in December with a Christmas series we’re calling The Prince of Peace, then in January we’ll start a series we’re calling Revelation, which is about finding hope and peace in a world of chaos. It’s a series on a book of the bible called Revelation, which is very relevant for helping us find hope and peace in the chaotic storms that we’re facing in our world now, and the even bigger chaotic storms that are on the horizon in the future. We’re anticipating that it’ll get worse in the world before it gets better, because the bible teaches it’ll get worse until Jesus returns to make it eternally better. So in 2024 we aren’t focusing on going around the storms, we’re focusing on finding peace in Jesus as we’re going through the storms. The peace Jesus brought Peter in a storm, is the peace he can bring us when we’re in a storm. In fact he’s still bringing peace into people’s lives today through our church, including the lives of atheists and nominal believers. The video I’m about to show you is evidence of that. It’s a video of two members in our church, Jeremy and Ashley Mosedale, who were praying for their family members Mark and Tiffany Desabrais. Mark was a nominal believer, Tiffany was an atheist, but both of them put their faith in Jesus and became members in our church. Let’s check out their story.
Let’s praise Jesus for this testimony!...Something we often say here at City Awakening is it’s invitations that leads to transformations, and Mark and Tiffany’s story is an example of this. They came to faith in Jesus through the Mosedale’s invitation, and they’re living proof that Jesus is still saving and transforming people’s lives through our church. They’re living proof that Jesus wants us to continue the vision he’s given us to be a place for skeptics and believers to seek truth and find joy in community. Tiffany even said she was a skeptic, she was an atheist, but she isn’t a skeptic anymore...She isn’t an atheist anymore...Her and her husband are living proof that Jesus is still saving, transforming, bringing peace into people’s lives today...
Let’s have the worship team come up and get to the big idea. The big idea is we can make it through any storms in life, with a persevering faith in Christ...Both skeptics and believers will face storms in life, and you’re either in a storm, or you’ll be in a storm. You’re either in a storm, or you’ll be in a storm, but either way Jesus is willing to come close to you like he did with the disciples. Nothing proves this more than the incarnate life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. He was willing to come so close to us, that he was willing to die for our sins on the cross to save us from the eternal storm of hell...If Jesus was willing to come close enough to die for our sins on the cross, then he’s certainly willing to come close enough to help us with whatever storms we’ll face in our lives. He’ll sometimes allow us to go through the storms instead of around the storms, but if we cry out to him, focus and refocus our lives on him, we’ll make it through the storms.
What we need, what the people in our city need more than anything else, is to find our peace in Jesus like Peter did. We need a persevering faith in Jesus knowing he’s our living savior who has the power to either calm the storms or help us make it through the storms. So don’t sink or fade as we finish 2023, instead finish strong by focusing more on the Savior than the storms. Let’s finish strong by using our time, talents, and treasures to help our church in accomplishing our vision to be a place for skeptics and believers to seek truth and find joy in community, so we can keep reaching people, and reaching the world with the gospel. Let’s finish strong in 2023, continue strong in 2024, and reach more people like Mark and Tiffany Desabrais...Let’s pray...