Have you ever found yourself in the midst of a storm, feeling as though you’re sinking under the weight of your worries and fears? This Sunday, we invite you to join us as we dive into Matthew 14:22-33, where Jesus walks on water and Peter takes a leap of faith. In this powerful passage, we witness a moment of miraculous trust and learn the importance of keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus, especially when the waves around us grow wild.
Are you ready to embark on a journey of faith, even when the seas are stormy? In this inspiring message, we’ll explore the depths of trust and faith in the midst of life’s storms. Discover how Jesus’ disciples faced their fears head-on and how we, too, can learn to navigate the storms of our lives with courage and faith. Don’t let this opportunity sail by! Come and be uplifted, encouraged, and renewed. Let’s learn together how to say with confidence, even in the roughest waters, “Peace, be still.”
We don’t know what’s going to happen next. At times the world seems crazy, and it looks like the wheels have come off, and life seems so uncertain. We may have uncertainty about our marriage, our family, our economy, our nation, our world, and our health. Uncertainty causes fear, a sense of powerlessness, or confusion about what to do next. So how do we live with uncertainty? In a message titled “A Meal in the Midst of Uncertainty,” we will look at how communion can help us understand how God strengthens us amid uncertainty.
You might’ve failed at something. You might feel guilt and regret as a result. But the best part of our life might be after the failure. So long as we learn the lessons from that failure. In the message today, this is a lesson Jesus teaches Peter.
When we face difficult times, we might feel like we’re in the midst of darkness and there is no light at the end of the tunnel. In other words, we don’t see hope. Some of us might describe it as being in the midst of a storm, and we worry the waves will swamp our boat. A storm threatened to sink Peter and the disciples’ boat, but Jesus arrived on the scene and caused them to think differently. Peter even requested to take a risky step while the other disciples were boat potatoes.
We may fear death. We may be anxious about growing old. Someone once said, aging is not for sissies.We may worry about losing our memory when we can’t remember something that we’ve always known. So how do we deal with these fears? What will help us have peace?
Politics stir up emotions. Often we can’t talk about politics at home, at church or with friends because of the division it causes. During election cycles fear may be stirred up in us as candidates point out various things that we should be afraid of. So where do we find hope and peace?
Sometimes we fear other people. We are worried they might harm us in some way so we are ready to take action to stay safe. Our list of people we fear might include people of different ethnicity, religion or social standing. When we act toward others out of fear our actions are rarely commendable. Horrible acts throughout history have been committed when one person fears another or a whole society fears another society. How do we move from fear to love?
We often fear failure. What happens if it doesn’t work out? What are people going to think if I fail? Fear of failure caused Moses to give a list of excuses when God asked him to do something. Moses even gave God a suggestion. “O my Lord, please send someone else.” Fortunately God didn’t let him excuse his way out of fear. How might God help us deal with our fear of failure?
In today’s world there is so much to fear: terrorism, global warming, economic insecurity, mass shootings, conflict with Iran and fears regarding our family and health. President Franklin Roosevelt once said, “There is nothing to fear but fear itself.” The Bible’s response to this is to say over and over, “Do not be afraid.” In this sermon series we will discover ways to build our faith so that our fear might be diminished.