Sermon on September 23 by Pastor Roland Eskinazi

Scripture: Mark 4:35-41

None of us know Jesus as well as we ought. It is in the storm we see more clearly..

When your storm sees too big:

1. BE ASSURED – YOUR STORM IS IN HIS PLAN! (V35-37)

• … a sudden storm

If you are a believer, you must reckon on your share of sickness and pain, of sorrows and tears, of deaths and bereavements ,.. of partings and disappointments so long as you are in the body. Christ never undertakes that you will get to heaven without these. (J.C. Ryle)

• … a shattering storm with Jesus in it
  A Jesus with no human body, who was never tempted to fear would be as help-ful as a computer. He knows your frame!

2. BE PREPARED – YOUR STORM WILL ROCK YOUR PREMISE! (V38)

• Faulty premise: ‘A sleeping Jesus will fail me ‘
  A feeling of absence does not mean Jesus is not at work e.g: Joseph and Paul (2 Cor.1:8 – 9), and Joni Eareckson-Tada:

When the devil insists God’s people only serve him when life is easy, I have the high honor of proving him wrong. To be on the battlefield where the mightiest forces converge in warfare. By God’s grace I am all in!
(Reflections on the 50th Anniversary of my Diving Accident)

• Faulty premise: ‘A caring Jesus won’t test me’
  Whatever storm you are in is because Jesus loves you, and every trial is a test of who you are serve and why. (Luke 10:40)

3. BE DEVOTED – JESUS IS FAR BIGGER THAN YOUR STORM! (V39-41)

• Only Jesus rules over the cosmos
• Only Jesus will reduce us to size
  After mega-calm follows the mega storm, no-one of the boat can say ‘We could have it done it better’.
• Only Jesus can rescue us from our the greatest storm
  While Jesus stayed in the boat, unlike Jonah, He threw Himself into the greatest storm at the Cross. Why would not be able to lead and guide you through any lesser storm?

Remember! Through the Cross Jesus can calm all storms, still all waves, destroy all destruction and break all brokenness.
There are 10 000 reasons to trust Him whatever storm you may face.

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QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION AND DISCUSSION
1. How is it comforting to know that Jesus in His sovereignty led the disciples into the storm that terrified them?
2. Think of a time when you questioned God’s love or justice? As you look back, what did you learn about Him? Why should the fact that we cannot always understand God’s ways actually encourage us to trust Him?
3. It is true that Jesus can bring us peace in the midst of the greatest storm we face. But what is the great lesson of this passage?
4. In what way would it be comforting to be in the presence of Jesus? In what way would it be comforting?

 

Photo credit FreeImages.com/Andy Hargraves