July 7,
2013
Stetson
Memorial United Methodist Church
“Cruising
Sacred Waters with Jesus”
Sermon 1 of
Summer Series
Mark 4:35-41 the Message Bible
Luke 4: 16-21 Common English Bible
“Who Is
This Captain?”
Good
Morning…let us be in the Spirit of prayer with one another…
I love spending time
having fun in the sun with my family. It is a time of relaxation and renewal. I
like to take day trips with the girls and Ray. I think they really make the
summer almost endless…taking time out with each other and visiting places that
we don’t get a chance to during the rest of the year.
But the one thing I have
always wanted to do is to take a cruise somewhere. I think a nice tropical
cruise would be fun, just laying on the deck with people waiting on me for a
change…eating delicious gourmet meals…what a life…OK…back to reality. Well I guess there is more than one way to take
a cruise. People cruise the boulevard in their cars. Some people cruise the
airways trying to find a song they like. But when I think of a cruise I think
of water. You know that beautiful, life giving water that renew and revives
you, gives you strength for each new day.
Sort of like the living water we
are given from our Lord Jesus Christ. I’ve got a great idea…let’s take a
cruise together this summer. Let’s cruise the sacred water’s of our faith with
Jesus.
Ok…I would like to ask my
lovely assistants Shyanne and Shanequa to come up and help me. I just so happen
to have these invitations that I would like to share. Now…to be sure we have a
trusted guide, we are going to be taking a look at our captain for this
cruise…our Risen Lord, Jesus Christ…for a couple of weeks and then as we embark
on the waters of our faith we will visit a few other ships that He is also
captain of. Now…have you all got your invitations? You know…those invitations
are special ones. You can bring along a friend on your invitation if you want. As a matter of fact, I would encourage you
to share your invitation with a friend. It promises to be an exciting cruise…
First of all, who is this
Jesus who is the Captain of our ship? Is He a captain that can be trusted? Does
He know the waters well enough for us to be safe as He navigates us through the
waters of our faith? What will He do if the waters get rough? Can just anyone be a part of this journey or
is there only a select few that can go?
In the scripture from
Luke this morning, Jesus tells them exactly who He was. They just didn’t get
it. The scripture that Jesus read was from the prophet Isaiah…even back in the
Old Testament, God promised a savior to come. Jesus is the one who sets the
captives free from their places of captivity…we are not just talking about a person in prison. Jesus came to set
free humanity even from the prisons we make for our lives through addiction, self
hatred, greed, envy…the list goes on. Jesus came and continues to come to set
humanity free. Jesus gives sight to the blind…amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me…I once
was lost but now am found was blind but now I see…(we see)…we see with new eyes
of love, hope, joy and peace when we are given our sight through the precious
blood of Jesus. There is good news in the Gospel of Christ…good news for those who are poor not only
monetarily but in spirit…those who need hope in their lives…those who need a
Savior as well as good news for you and me…all who have that true Savior in our
lives.
There is another
scripture that reminds me of who Jesus is…it is found in the gospel of Mark,
chapter 4, verses 35-41. Listen to the story and hear how awesome our Risen
Lord is…
I will be reading from
the message bible this morning…I love the title for this story “The Wind Ran Out of Breath”
Late that day he said
to them, “Let’s go across to the other side.” They took him in the boat as he
was. Other boats came along. A huge storm came up. Waves poured into the boat,
threatening to sink it. And Jesus was in the stern, head on a pillow, sleeping!
They roused him, saying, “Teacher, is it nothing to you that we’re going down?”
Awake now, he told the wind to pipe down and said to the sea, “Quiet! Settle
down!” The wind ran out of breath; the sea became smooth as glass. Jesus
reprimanded the disciples: “Why are you such cowards? Don’t you have any faith
at all?” They were in absolute awe, staggered. “Who is this, anyway?” they
asked. “Wind and sea at his beck and call!”
Jesus had and has the
power to calm the storm. Even the disciples, who were with Him every day, were
amazed by this miracle…even the waves and wind obeyed Jesus. When the waters
got rough and their seemed to be an eminent doom Jesus, by only a few words,
was able to smooth out the waters and bring about restored peace. Jesus
continues to do that today. Jesus calms storms of our lives. We too are amazed
at times when we face the storms of life and feel there is no way out just how
Jesus calms that storm as we cry out in the rough waters as we feel we are
sinking. But Jesus also stills asks “why are you afraid…have you no faith?” Maybe…just maybe we need to refocus
ourselves…our vision back to the One who by a word can calm the storm. Maybe
just maybe we need to recalibrate our sight so that we may see the target more
clearly. Perhaps by repositioning ourselves to get the best view our focus
object we will see the glory of God.
This also reminds me of
another story that took place on the water. It reminds me of the time when
Peter…the Rock…stepped out in faith to walk to Jesus on the water. But Peter…as
well as we today…took His eyes off of Jesus and looked at the chaos of the
waves around him and he began to sink. As soon as Peter called out for help
Jesus reached out His hand and pulled Peter up out of what would have been a
watery grave. Jesus continues to do that
today when we too are sinking. He pulls us out of the watery grave of
addiction, of hopelessness, of despair. But we too need to refocus our eyes on
Jesus, the One who pulls us up and sets on firm ground. By the way…Peter walked twice on the water…once to Jesus and a second
time with Jesus back to the boat…back to solid ground…
So…who is this Captain
that we are cruising sacred waters with? Well…Jesus is the Captain of this boat
that we will be sailing on this summer. But…I think that the question is not so
much “Who is Jesus”, but “Who is Jesus to you?” Jesus wants you and He wants me
to embark on a journey of faith that may lead us to uncharted waters but He
will be our guide.
• Jesus wants to take all of us to the other side ®He doesn’t want to leave us where we
are but wants to transform us into who we should be. He wants to be the Captain
of our “Charter Cruise” of faith.
• Following Jesus means leaving the crowd behind ® going with the crowd usually will
take us away from the navigation of Christ in our lives.
• It also means that we will have our share of Life’s storms ®Jesus never promises to “skirt us
around the storms of life.” Jesus does promise to be with us always and with
the sound of His voice, gives us peace even in the roughest storm.
• He cares about you and He cares about me ® on the sea of faith, we can always
count on the captain of the ship to know the way.
• He calms the storms ® we have all had our share of storms
but rest assured…we will make it through by His guiding beacon in the darkness
of our storm.
• When we are afraid He asks us “Why” ® even the first disciples were
afraid. Fear freezes us at times and it is our captain who comes in and drives
away the fear leaving a peace that is priceless to you and to me.
So…who is this Jesus? For
me, He is the Son of God and Savior of the world. He is the Head of the Church.
He is my strength in times of trouble. He is my Rock and our Redeemer. He is my
Mighty Tower and Refuge. He is my Lord and my Savior. The question is this…who
is Jesus to you? Is He Lord and King, the Captain of your life journey or just
the “first mate”?
Beloved, are you struggling in your life and feel that you
are sinking? Are you looking for someone who can help you on your journey? Are
you going down for the second time and need to be pulled back to the top? Is
there a storm in your life that just seems too hard to endure? Reach out you
hand…as Peter did…and be lifted up by the One who can pull you back to the top
and set you on solid ground. Maybe, just maybe, by doing so, you will find that
peace …that eye of the storm…to find rest even for just a moment. We were never
promised there would be no storms in our lives…but we were promised that we
will never walk alone. Let us cruise on the sacred waters with Jesus this
summer together, resting assured that we have a captain that can even calm a
storm with His voice. How awesome is
that?
Let us pray…
AMEN
July
10, 2013
Mark
4:35-41 (The Message)
Luke
4:16-21 (Common English Bible)
Matthew
14:22-33
children’s
message
We
are not alone
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
and
sermon “Who Is this Captain”
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
Sermon 1 of Summer Series
“Cruising Sacred Waters with Jesus”
by
Pastor Ruth Foss
sermon blog
meditation blog
“God’s
Whisper” blog
Stetson Memorial United Methodist Church
Patten, ME
July 7, 2013
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