Today God wants to speak to us about going on the big slide…the one we’re afraid of…but the one on which awaits a great step of faith and adventure with God that we have yet to experience…
-let’s face it, many Christians spend their lives on the small slide…where it’s safe, easy, predictable, not very challenging…less Christians spend their lives on the middle-sized slide…but very few are on the big slide…
What is the big slide? It’s the place where our faith is challenged and stretched…where we do something for God that involves risk, some unknown…something we can’t predict or control…something that could fail…something that is too big for us to do on our own…
The big slide is where we choose to make Jesus the King of our hearts and let Him be Lord…where we deeply surrender our lives to the Lord and let Him be in charge of our lives and become the center of our affections…
And what’s holding us back from life on the big slide? or even a bigger slide? For many of us, it’s fear…(or lazy, selfish, tired…)…we’re afraid of surrendering ourselves more deeply to Him…we’re afraid of doing something challenging for God…afraid of failing, of being disappointed, of being embarrassed…afraid of all kinds of things…
…we’re afraid of letting God be in charge of our lives and having him call the shots instead of us…
Peter, the great disciple of Jesus, overcame his fear of the big slide and took a step of faith that changed him forever…
Let’s read his story and let God call us today to overcome our fear of serving God in new and challenging ways…our fear of letting Him be the Lord and King of our lives…
…turn to Mt. 14:22-33…Prayer…Read…
The most important question we can deal with today is: how was Peter able to overcome his fear of the storm and the impossible and step out of the boat and walk on the water? How was he able to go down the big slide?
There were 4 things that took place that enabled Peter to overcome his fear and experience something no other human being in all of history has…the thrill of walking on water…those same 4 things can enable us as well to get off the small slide and onto the big one…the one that requires faith and trust and obedience…the one Jesus is on and is inviting us to join Him for the adventure of our lives…
1. saw a supernatural God v.26
-the disciples saw Jesus doing something supernatural…humanly impossible…they saw Him walking on water…and it terrified them…
-if we’re ever going to get off the small slide, it will be because we see a God who is already on the big slide…who shows us that He is not bound by human limitations, logic, by fear…
-that He is a God of miracles, of the impossible, of all power, strength and authority…
And when we see God in this way, we too will begin to realize that we can follow Him out of our safe and small life…and get on the medium slide and even the big slide…because He is there and invites us to follow Him into a life of faith…
You want to follow Jesus more courageously? Then you’ve got to spend more time with our supernatural God…that comes from reading the four NT gospels…it comes from hearing stories of Jesus-followers who have stepped out in faith based on their belief in a supernatural God…eg Pastor Nathan…comes from being one of those stories yourself…
2. listened to His “courage-giving” voice v.27
-Jesus’ words to His terrified disciples are so comforting and courage-giving…
“Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
Don’t you see how these simple but powerful words from Jesus awoke something in Peter, stirred his heart…spoke courage to him…”if this supernatural God is calling out to me, speaking to me, then I want to respond and get out to where He is…I want to walk on the water…I want to go on the big slide…”
eg. for those of you facing a storm right now…easy to focus on the wind and waves and be afraid…the place to find peace is by looking at Jesus and listening to what He says…
Many of us get talked out of a life of faith by all the human voices that clamor for our attention…including our own…
“don’t be ridiculous, that’s too risky…where’s your common sense…don’t do something you’ll regret…what will so and so think?…what will your family and friends say?…
As I’ve said many times, the challenge for faithful followers of JC is: whose voice are we going to listen to? which one will we be swayed by? it’s hard to filter out all the human voices…or at least turn down their volume so we can hear the voice of God speak louder…takes focus and intentionality…
Jn 10:27 “My sheep listen to My voice…and they follow Me.”
3. asked Jesus to give him supernatural faith v.28
“Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you on the water…”
“Lord, help me to be courageous like you…help me to be set free from my fear and my human limitations…help me get on the big slide with You…”
-what a bold prayer!…it expresses both desire, willingness… and an admission of our own inability…
“Lord I want to follow You into the unknown, but I can’t on my own…just like the 5 year old in the playground: ”It’s too big for me…I can’t do it without you Dad”…
God is just waiting for us to pray a prayer like that to Him…because that’s all the invitation He needs to fill us with the right amount of courage and faith to take that first step out of the boat and onto the big slide…
“Lord…tell me to come to You…”
-what would it mean for you to pray a prayer like that to Jesus?
For some of you:
• signing up for that missions trip
• volunteering for that ministry
• speaking to that neighbor
• getting to know that person in our church from a different culture
• having the hard conversation you’ve been putting off
• making things right with a loved one
• sharing the gospel with that person God has put on your heart…
• it’s a endless list of possibilities…
It means getting on the big slide, where God is waiting…and seeing how He will bless you and use you and do great things through you…
-you just have to take that first step of obedience…
The Step of Salvation
For some of you, that first step of obedience is to come to Christ for salvation…to leave your boat of self-made religion…the self-atonement plan… ”Lord save me!”
4. took the first step of obedience v.29
-Peter put his leg over the side of the boat, and stepped out…and when he put his weight on that leg, the water held! I’ve thot it about this many times: what was it like to step on water and find you could actually stand on it?
…especially stormy water, big waves…lots of wind…
eg. tried it when we were in Israel…just off the shore in the sea of Galilee…didn’t work!! – would have been better to try it off the boat in the middle of the Sea of Galilee…
But Peter did take that first step and he didn’t sink and he experienced what no other human ever has…the terrifying thrill of walking on water…talk about a gigantic slide…
But you know the story…he took a few steps but then took his eyes off of Jesus, saw the storm, realized what a crazy thing he was doing, got afraid and started to sink…
-and immediately Jesus reached out His hand and caught him, rescued him and brought him to safety…
God is always there to rescue you no matter what…
** He loves to rescue those who call out to Him, “Lord save me!”
So, did Peter succeed in his brief walk of faith, or did he fail?
eg. Michael Jordan Nike commercial…
Peter profoundly succeeded in following Jesus…because out of all the other disciples on the boat, he alone chose the big slide…and it was part of Jesus’ plan to develop Peter into the leader he needed to be for the early church movement in the book of Acts…God was using all his stumbling efforts and successes and even his failures to make him into a bold man of faith…
Step Out of Your Boat
Listen, how many of you are willing to step out of your boat? How many of you will refuse to let fear control you and will take a step of courageous faith and obedience to follow Jesus?
How many of you will refuse to be boat-bound? to stay only on the small slide? We talk about couch potatoes… – don’t be a “pew potato”…a spectator…a distant observer…get on the big slide…at least a bigger slide…step out of your boat…
All you have to do is pray: “Lord, tell me to come to You on the water…”
Let me remind you that Jesus is on the water waiting for you to join Him…and He will not let you drown…He will take care of you…
eg I learned that first-hand when Audrey and I left here in 2005 to go and plant the Link House Church Movement…stepped out of this safe place into the unknown…and God was there…
…the church plant didn’t survive…only lasted 5 years, but God did a number of great things during that time and He taught us so many things during that process…one thing is the faith I have in Him to stand before you and say with confidence…”you can do whatever God is calling you to because He will not let you down…whatever God calls you to do, He is there waiting for you…
(invite Audrey up to join me as we sing a song written by our children based on this story…)
5. the result of courageous obedience is God-honoring worship
read v.33… “Truly you are the Son of God…”
And that’s what I want to invite you to do as we move into communion…to spend time focusing on God and giving Him thanks for who He is and what He has done for us through His death on the cross…
and to say along with the disciples, “Truly you are the Son of God…”
and just perhaps today as you are worshipping Christ, He will speak to you about a courageous step of faith He is asking you to take…
** For those who need to come to Christ…”Lord save me!”
Song : Jesus I Will Come to You…Prayer…