Pastor Sheldon Lacsina
March 1, 2020 - W2009

“Step Out Of The Boat”

Life Lessons From A King: Study in the Life of David

Pastor Sheldon Lacsina

February 29 & March 1, 2020

Welcome all and those watching online!  Pastors Jon & Cyndi Burgess, if I weren’t serving in New Hope Hilo, I’d be volunteering here [New Hope Oahu]—my home away from home! Thank you for inviting me. 

Today, we are talking about stepping out of the boat and living with fears. The message is centered on a story of Peter during a storm, and his trust in Jesus to do something no one had ever done before!  But when we don’t know Jesus, we will automatically revert to fear.  

Pastor Wayne often says, “We don’t forget we’re Christians; we forget we’re humans!”  Even as believers, fear sets in when we or our loved ones have health issues; our mortgage or bills are not being paid; the current worldwide coronavirus issue—we start to fear!  Our fears are not the same: What you fear may not be someone else’s fear, but we all have them.

I am thankful that in our relationship with God, it’s never about us.  It is always about Him.  Pastor Jon said it well, “When we forget about Him, it becomes about us; and when it becomes about us, we become fearful!”

Hebrews 11:6 NIV says: “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” 

In other words, God is saying, “I want to reward you, but you must seek me.  I have things in store for your life, but you must seek me; and when you seek me, you will find me when you search for me with all your heart.”  The question is, “Are we seeking Him, or are we so fearful that we don't see Him?”

Matthew 14:22-33 NIV says: “²² Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. ²³ After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, ²⁴ and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. ²⁵ Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. ²⁶ When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear. ²⁷ But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.” ²⁸ “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.” ²⁹ “Come,” he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!” ³¹ Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” ³² And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. ³³ Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

When Peter took his eyes off Jesus, he saw the waves and became fearful and began to sink! Whenever we take our eyes off Jesus, we will focus on our circumstances, and fear will set in! 

Peter went through these stages:  First, he cried out in fear because he thought it was a ghost, then Jesus reassures him and says, “Take courage.  It is I.  Don't be afraid.”  Then Peter brought in the "if."  “If it is you, tell me to come to you.” In other words, “If it is you, Jesus, then save me.”  (We could say, “If you are who you say you are, then you can heal my friend, my co?worker, my mom, my son, my dad.”)   

We will either step out of the boat and walk on water, or we will stay in the boat and watch someone else do it.  

Hopefully, we can tackle some things that will help us understand that we're all in some kind of boat.  The question is what is your boat?  Is it finances?  Is it a relationship?  Do you have fears?  Is it health?  Is it what's happening in the world right now with this virus?  What is your fear?  Jesus is able to do exceedingly abundantly more than we could ever ask or possibly imagine. 

It doesn't really matter where we are in the boat because every one of us has an opportunity to step out of the boat and walk on the promises of God.  We'll look at three things that will help us:

1.   Take Courage But Wait For The Lord  

Courage alone will not help us, but when Jesus says to take courage, it’s because He is already there!  We all need courage to face the fear of the unknown.  

 Psalm 27:14 NASB says: “Wait for the Lord; Be strong and let your heart take courage; (then it says again), “Yes, wait for the Lord.” 

Sometimes, fear actually protects us from making unwise decisions. If we don't have a bit of fear, we could move into the foolishness category; such as, someone will say, “I have no fear,” and next week, “Hi, I’m in the hospital.  Yeah, I got 17 broken bones.”  Why?  Because they live with no fear.   God gave us a mechanism of fear so we could make wiser decisions.

We are spiritual beings and need spiritual food. If we don't have spiritual food, we won't have the energy for life.  So, God tells us to take courage, but to wait for Him. Otherwise, we will do what we think we can do and operate on past behaviors and continue to do what we’ve always done. 

When we don't wait for God, we have no nutrients! So, wait for the Lord, and watch the fear start to subside.  It took faith for Peter to get out of the boat!  

2.  Come to Jesus

God’s perfect love will cast out all of the fear.  It seems so simple, just come to Jesus.  You may be saying, “I've been coming to Jesus all my life, but I'm still fearful.” You may have been coming to Jesus for results and problem solving, rather than to Jesus Himself.  

We continuously try to solve our problem rather than come to Jesus who is the problem solver.  Without Jesus, all we do is just fix things, and when the problem (marriage and finances) get better, we forget about Jesus because we were in it only for the answer to our problems—not because of Jesus.  Come to Jesus. It's all about a relationship with Him! 

Matthew 11:28 NIV says: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” 

Jesus could say be of good cheer even in the midst of a storm and chaos because He is not concerned about the atmosphere around us—He's the Lord above that!  But if you come to Jesus only to have your problem solved, you will end up in the same place again.  We are able to take courage only if our problem is in Jesus’ care.

When Jesus says, “I want to be with you and to walk with you, it's not about a religion—it's about a relationship with Him.  That's where everything begins to form, and fears are kicked out!  

What is so comforting that you are unwilling to give Jesus everything you have?  What is so comforting that you're stuck in fear that you're not willing to give up things?  It could be an addiction, your checkbook, pocketbook, or anything.  I'm not saying to give everything away.  What I am saying is, “Do you trust Jesus with everything you have?”

You might be in a relationship that you know it's not a godly one.  Are you willing to listen to the heart of Christ and give up your own comforts to follow Him?  Maybe it's the fear of what will happen if I give my life to Christ and people won't like me?  What is so comforting that we're unwilling to give it up? 

Peter was the only disciple that was willing to step out of the boat and come close to Jesus.  Yes, Peter started sinking, but he also walked on water!  I'd rather sink while coming to Jesus than to stay in the boat regretting that I did not!Jesus will always be there to lift us up immediately.  That's what He did with Peter.  Take courage but wait for the Lord and come to Jesus.

3.  Process My Emotions With Jesus 

God gave every one of us emotions, and if we process it with Jesus, we will not be afraid.  Don't be stuck in fear.  Fear is not a bad thing, but it's unhealthy to stay there.  Fear helps us to make wise decisions, but if we stay in fear, it will paralyze us. 

When Jesus said, “Do not fear,” He's saying that's your emotions, not your identity.  Don't become what you feel lest you follow your feelings and become everything you're not supposed to be and become schizophrenic Christians, and the world will look at you and wonder what's wrong with you?  Why are you not able to process your thought life from your emotions, and to your actions? 

Are we willing to leave your comfort zone (the familiar, what we’ve been hanging on to) and be willing to step out of the boat in faith, and walk on water to what seems impossible? 

We may be surrounded by winds and waves—present circumstances, pressures around us, deadlines at work, our children growing up or moving out, or moving back in—different pressures and circumstances. Take courage.  Wait for the Lord.  It will be His view, not ours.  

Philippians 4:6-7 NLT says: “⁶ Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” 

When you're in a relationship with Jesus, for some reason, the problems that once were so major do not seem as bad as before, even though unsolved.  It's not as heavy because we have the peace of God—so keep going to Him to process your emotions.

I know that sometimes we'll process our emotions with people who may give us bad advice; so, in the future, find people who love you, who love God, and who want the very best for you. In the end, instead of processing your emotions with people—process them with the Lord.  

By staying in the boat, we may feel resentment, anger, or bitterness; but by stepping out of the boat, we develop courage and a closer relationship with Jesus, learning to forgive others and humbling ourselves. Gather with other believers and worship God together because we're strengthened when we do things together—we're greater together!  Step out of the boat and risk sinking; Jesus will be there even when we sink.  It's not just stepping out of the boat; it’s stepping out of the boat and coming to Jesus!  

STUDY QUESTIONS: 

1.  What is your “boat” that you want to overcome?

2.  What is a fear that occupies your thoughts?

3.  Who are some of the people that can strengthen you in your walk to Jesus?

4.  Describe circumstance(s) when your fear overcame your faith.

5.  Share a time when your faith overcame your fear.