Praise the Lord for this new day. We will gather for
our Wednesday Evening fellowship and study beginning with supper at 6 PM. We
will be looking at Acts 2. We will meet for the meal at 6 PM and for the study
at 6:30 PM. Alice and I walked for three miles last evening. We are getting
ready for sweet summer. We have heard from Sunita and Andy. They are blessed to
be in Albania. This week they are traveling to Greece for a week.
Praise the Lord, for He is the maker of heaven and
earth. It is a beautiful world. He makes all things glorious in His time. We are
so blessed to be living close to the Finger Lakes and the great Lakes. It is
such a blessing to be living close to the Atlantic Ocean. I have also been so
blessed to have been able to the sea of Galilee several times. A few days ago we
spent an afternoon at one of the Finger Lakes. It was brilliant. There were so
many people with boats at lake resting and relaxing.
Our Lord spent considerable time with His disciples
by the Lake and in the lake (the Sea of Galilee). We see Jesus and His disciples
at the Sea of Galilee as it is recorded in Mathew 14. Peter and the disciples
were struggling across the lake on a stormy night. They were tired, worn out,
from rowing. In that moment of fatigue they saw something walking on the water
coming to them. Terror and fear gripped their hearts. Jesus saw this and cried
out, “Take Courage – it is I – Do not fear!” Peter, who
became energized at this low point,
asked to come meet Jesus. Then he got out of the boat and literally for a moment
walked on the water. He experienced a miracle!
Jesus says come all of you who are burdened with life for I can lighten the load. JESUS says come - come - you are invited to be with me - I want you by my side, I want you to come - come on - come away with me. Leave the fear and take courage; it is I! Come be a part of a miracle!
We all at times find ourselves in difficult circumstances on the journey of life, struggling to move forward. We fight, we row against the wind of the world, we get tossed around like rag dolls, and we become tired and fatigued. Yet, in these moments we can see Jesus. We can if we take the time to listen so that we may hear his voice, “Take courage – It is I – Do not be afraid!”
Jesus sent the disciples on ahead of Him in the boat, telling them that he would meet with them on the other side. He dismissed the crowd that he had just miraculously fed - over 5,000 people. He told them all to go home!
Jesus was never one to be a crowd pleaser or one to hang onto the crowds. His wisdom and understanding, which transcends ours thought pattern, were so different. His priorities were not focused on pleasing the crowd. Jesus caught up with the boat as he walked atop the water. think about this sight for a moment - He was walking on the water, the lake was unfrozen, defying gravity. He was super-naturally walking on water and not sinking. Beyond this amazing feat, the text tells us that the boat was being beaten by the waves and the winds so that the skilled fishermen were not making much headway in the sea. The wind was beating against the front of the boat; they were struggling but Jesus came to them, walking right toward them on the water and the waves, heading right for the disciples. The disciples, consumed with fear, cried out, "It’s a ghost! It’s a coming to get us!" Jesus yelled out to them, "Take courage!"
Jesus says come all of you who are burdened with life for I can lighten the load. JESUS says come - come - you are invited to be with me - I want you by my side, I want you to come - come on - come away with me. Leave the fear and take courage; it is I! Come be a part of a miracle!
We all at times find ourselves in difficult circumstances on the journey of life, struggling to move forward. We fight, we row against the wind of the world, we get tossed around like rag dolls, and we become tired and fatigued. Yet, in these moments we can see Jesus. We can if we take the time to listen so that we may hear his voice, “Take courage – It is I – Do not be afraid!”
Jesus sent the disciples on ahead of Him in the boat, telling them that he would meet with them on the other side. He dismissed the crowd that he had just miraculously fed - over 5,000 people. He told them all to go home!
Jesus was never one to be a crowd pleaser or one to hang onto the crowds. His wisdom and understanding, which transcends ours thought pattern, were so different. His priorities were not focused on pleasing the crowd. Jesus caught up with the boat as he walked atop the water. think about this sight for a moment - He was walking on the water, the lake was unfrozen, defying gravity. He was super-naturally walking on water and not sinking. Beyond this amazing feat, the text tells us that the boat was being beaten by the waves and the winds so that the skilled fishermen were not making much headway in the sea. The wind was beating against the front of the boat; they were struggling but Jesus came to them, walking right toward them on the water and the waves, heading right for the disciples. The disciples, consumed with fear, cried out, "It’s a ghost! It’s a coming to get us!" Jesus yelled out to them, "Take courage!"
We find ourselves in those places and moments, when
a dark windy and stormy night and fear take hold of our hearts and minds. The
journey of life is hard. It’s dark sometimes and sometimes we feel tossed
around, fighting against the winds of the world. The boat of life seems to be
going nowhere. We become tired and worn out, and it is then that Satan always
likes to torment our minds with fear. Then we see something moving toward us
that looks like a ghost - a demon - a tormentor - so we panic - we scream - we
cry out because we are so tired and exhausted!
Then we hear a voice saying, "Take courage. It is I Don’t be afraid. I have come to you. Jesus can be heard and seen in the darkness of the night - in the midst of fear and fatigue!
Then we hear a voice saying, "Take courage. It is I Don’t be afraid. I have come to you. Jesus can be heard and seen in the darkness of the night - in the midst of fear and fatigue!
When Peter responded to Jesus' voice and saw him
walking on the water, he responded with a request: "Jesus can I come to you?"
Only Peter, among the disciples, knew the shame of the public failure. Only
Peter knew the glory of walking on water. He alone knew what it was to attempt
to do what he was not capable of doing on his own, then feeling euphoria of
being empowered by God to actually do it. Once you walk on water, you will never
forget it, not for the rest of your life!
In Christ,
Brown
Super Summer Music
Festival.
Saturday, June 30,2012
6:30 PM
Location: First United Methodist Church,
53 McKinley Ave.,
Endicott Ny 13760
Sponsored b:y the
Union Center United Methodist Church.
Musicians
include:
Aric
Phinney,
Yancey
Moore,
David
Berry
Emma
Brunson,
Linda Glann and
others.
No comments:
Post a Comment