Mark 4:35-41, "In The Storm"

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Welcome to the Aug. 17 sermon from Clifford Baptist Church, 6:35 Fletcher's Level Road in Amherst. Today's scripture is Mark, chapter 4, verses 35 through 41. And the sermon is entitled in the Storm, delivered today by Pastor Jeffrey Campbell. [00:00:15] Speaker B: Whenever you leave one book and go somewhere else searching for that place, where should I land? That's one of the hardest jobs for a pastor. Where should I preach from, Lord? And there are times I want you to know my heart is to preach straight through a book of the Bible. That is my heart. But I also understand there are times that you have to minister to your congregation's needs. And as the shepherd of the church, you've got to know your sheep. And so what I want to do over the next month is embark on a study that simply I have titled Our Help in Trouble. We are going to venture in four different places, and I'm going to already give you the catch. The catch is Jesus is in all four of them. Today we're going to look at the storm. Next week we're going to go into the fire. The following week, we're going to go into prison. And the last week, we're going to walk through the valley of the shadow of death. And here's what I want our church to know, that there is hope in all of those places. Because as a believer, Jesus is there. And so today, when we think about the storm, there are so many things that can discourage the child of God, the people of God, the church of God. And it's amazing that we get discouraged because our eyes get fixed on the storm. But here's what scripture says. Psalm 54, 4 David says, this God is my helper. Hebrews 13:6 reminds us that we can boldly say, the Lord is my helper. John 14:16. Jesus says, I will pray to the Father, and he shall give you another comforter or another helper. And we understand that that helper will abide with us forever. And that helper is the Holy Spirit. And so today, what I want you to know, church family, is this. Whatever your storm looks like, there is someone that is willing to help when none other in this world, whether it is a family member or a doctor or someone that loves you so dearly even when they can't help, Jesus can and will. And so today I know that I am talking to a people today that face adversity and trials and storms. And here's the reality. Your storm is a little different than mine. Yours may be more intense, but we all will face storms. And today, if you're here and you're not in a storm, guess what one's brewing. You know, I'm all hyped up about the hurricane that's not going to hit land. I pray that it doesn't. It's the quickest growing storm ever, and by the grace of God, it's not going to make landfall. But here's what you need to know. There are storms brewing all around us, and sometimes they make landfall, and sometimes they hit home, and sometimes they hurt Christians. But you have a helper, and his name is Jesus, no matter what the storm looks like. So today, when we think about a very familiar story, I'm gonna ask you to open your Bibles to the Gospel of mark, chapter number four. Mark, chapter number four, verses 35 through 41. If you do not have a Bible, pull it up on your phone. It's okay. I want you to do that. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to follow this scripture with me because there's truth here. Mark, chapter number four is where we're going to be at today. Jesus ministry often centered around the Sea of Galilee. And it's amazing to me, in the beginning of chapter number four, verse number one, you see Jesus getting on a boat because of the multitudes, and he goes out a little ways and he preaches back to the multitudes that are on the land. So he enters a boat to get away from them, to get a little space, goes on the water, turns around, and he preaches to the multitudes that are waiting on land. But here in our Scripture, you will see Jesus get on a boat and just minister to the ones that are on the boat. It's amazing about this. Jesus knows exactly what you need, how you need it, and how to minister to you. Even though the situations are different, Jesus is teaching those around him, always teaching about how they can grow in their faith. Sometimes I feel like that's my chief job is to encourage the saints to grow in their faith. The beginning of chapter number four, we see Jesus teaching the multitudes. He will do some teaching through this chapter on the kingdom of God, and he will then sail to the Gadarenes to minister to a man with the demon. So in between teaching on the kingdom of God and confronting demons, his loved ones are in a boat and he joins them today. Here's what I want you to rest assure. And if you find yourself in a storm, there are going to be four reminders that I want you to catch hold of today. Look at Matthew, chapter number four, verses 35. And 36 and the same day when the evening was come, he saith unto them, let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there were also with them other little point number one. For the believers, here is a reminder. In every storm, Jesus is present. I want you to know it has been a long day for Jesus. He has been teaching and leading and surrounded by people. How many of you know people can wear you out? Anybody attest to that? People can wear you out. And sometimes when Terri says, let's go to Walmart, I'm like, no, today is not the day for Walmart. Right? It takes special mindset to enter Walmart. I want you to know that. But it also takes a special mindset to enter the church because people can be hard. It's been a hard day for Jesus. Remember, he's fully God and fully human. I believe that he is carrying somewhat of a tired day. And I will show you why I say that in just a minute. But the Sea of Galilee, eight miles wide at its widest point, where we are talking about now, the experts say it's about five miles of sailing across the Sea of Galilee. And so they're making preparations to, you know, they're not in a day where they can fire up the mercury outboard and just set sail and be there in a few minutes. No, no, they're dependent on oars, they're dependent on sails, they're dependent on the wind to get them where they need to go. The most important act of preparation in which we see in scripture today is this is the disciples. Make sure Jesus is on the boat. Look again with me. Verse 35 and 36, it says the same day when evening was come, he said to them, let us pass over to the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. A tired, worn out, spent. Jesus is still good enough to get on the boat and on your boat as well. He's been through a lot this day, but they know they got the most precious piece of cargo on the ship. And his name is Jesus. And so today, when we think of our preparation and what we're doing in life and we make preparations for our day, guess what? You need to make sure that Jesus is part of your day. He is on your boat. Don't start your day without prayer. Don't start your day without the word of God. Can I give you a challenge for next Sunday morning? I want all of you to be here next Sunday morning. Okay, next Sunday morning on your way to church, here's what you pray with your eyes wide open, driving down the road, lord, please minister to me today, man. Church is totally different. When you do that, you see preparation matters. And making sure that Jesus was on the boat is something that the disciples had to do. He could have gotten lost in the multitude or he could have walked away a different direction. But Jesus was present. Mark's gospel records two storms, one here in chapter number four and another storm in chapter number six. That can be your homework for later today. Read about that storm in chapter number six. Because in that second storm, he sends them away and he doesn't go with them. Well, he's taught them what they need to know. In this storm, they should be able to handle the next storm, right? Wrong. In that storm, Jesus goes up on the mountain to pray. And he's watching them. He sees them rowing even harder, the wind picking up, and they lose heart again. How many of us have been through things and seen Jesus work and forgot, forgot that Jesus brought us through before and he can do it again. And so part of the preparation of believers today is that every day that we wake up, we need to make sure that Jesus is on the boat. Warren Wiersbe writes this. Jonah ended up in a storm because of disobedience. The disciples were in a storm because of their obedience. Obedience. This was Jesus plan to sail to the other side. And if it's Jesus plan, why would he allow a storm to happen? I want you to rest assure. The end of verse number 35. Jesus says this. Let us pass over unto the other side. I quickly read over that in my study. Going back, here's what I want. Here's what God put on my heart. God told them they would make it to the other side. God told them they would make it. We're gonna pass over. We're gonna make it to the other side. He didn't tell them what they would encounter in order to get there. And so today, here's point number one. In every storm, if you are a believer, Jesus is present. Jesus is present. We have to make preparations every day to make him part of our life and our being and everything that we may encounter for that day. That's why you must spend time with Jesus. He's present. Look at verse 37 and 38. And there arose a great storm of wind. And the waves beat unto the ship so that it was now full. And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep. On a pillow. And they awake him and say unto him, master, carest thou not that we perish? The second thing that is present is panic. Now I'm going to give you really real quickly. There are four things in these couple of verses that cause the disciples to panic. The first one is this is the surprise of the storm. The surprise of the storm, you know, they load up, Jesus is on board. They know they've got to sail five miles. And when they begin, not when they begin, when they get out in the middle of that sea, the storm happens. They set sail that day knowing Jesus was on board, trying to flee the multitudes. Knowing this, they had to get to the other side because there was more work to do. And guess what? The last thing they needed was a storm to slow them down. Can anybody relate? You know, the last thing you need is something to happen to derail your plans. And then it all breaks loose. That's where they are. They're in the middle of the storm. And the surprise of the storm is what causes panic. There's another thing that causes panic and that is the strength of the storm. Look again here at verses 37. Look at verse 37. It says there arose a great storm of wind. And the waves beat into the ship so that it was now full. I love the King James Version. It is a great storm. It means it is big, it is powerful, it is getting ready to do some damage. The winds are blowing, the waves are rolling. To the extent the boat fills up with water. Oh no. Right. Some of you may say some other things, but I say oh no. When we understand that the winds stir, the waves stir, the boat is filling up. Guess what? The disciples now fall into a panic. And they become focused on their circumstances more than their God. Listen to me. Anxiety, stress, panic. When we lose sight of God, those emotions naturally take over in the human body. You will not convince me otherwise because it's happened to me. So the strength of the storm is important here. But there's another thing that causes panic between the disciples is this is someone is sleeping during the storm. Look at verse number 38. And he speaking of Jesus, was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on the pillow. Well, by George, let me tell you what, Jesus can sleep during the storm. There's another sermon in that. I'm not going to preach that one. Mark says he has a pillow and he is sound asleep. I don't know about you. When I get my pillow, just leave me alone. Right, it's over. But Jesus asleep and the storm is Raging. And the disciples are panicking. This is true human emotion. And all they understand, all Mark records is that Jesus has his little pillow and he is fast asleep. Remember, this is my point, that I believe Jesus was fully human. He is worn out from the day of ministry. He has to sleep. He has to get his rest. He's trying to find that little moment to get that. And he thought he could do it on a five mile sail. He thought he could trust the disciples just to take care of that while he rested. But that didn't happen because Jesus is asleep. It causes panic within the disciples. How many of us have been in situations where you wondered, okay, Jesus, where are you at? He's on the same boat. He's in a different place. He's doing something that he's normally not doing. But he's still there. He is still there. There's one more point that causes panic, and that is this. These disciples are sure they're going to die. Look at end of verse number 38. They awake him and say unto him, master, carest thou not that we perish? Don't you know that we're going to die? And don't you even care? Now look at me, Church. These are the 12 closest people to Jesus in the world. And they are saying, jesus, do you even care about us? There's human involvement. There's human emotion. When storms happen that is very present. You have to deal with fear and anxiety. You have to deal with panic and questions. You have to manage that even when you don't have the answer. How do you manage the panic that is present? You do exactly what the disciples do. You go to Jesus and you tell him exactly how you feel. God, we're scared. Do you even care about us? We understand that Jesus is present. We understand that the human emotion of panic is present. There's one two more things, but this one. Look at verse number 39. And he arose and rebuked the wind and said unto the sea, peace be still. And the wind ceased. And there was a great calm even in the midst of your storm. The third thing is peace can be present. Now you say, jeffrey, how can peace be present in the middle of a storm that's raging when the waves are turning? Jeffrey, if you were in a boat that was filled with water, you would be saying some different things. Can I tell you this? Jesus has taught me a lot. And here's what he's taught me the most. If you don't take anything away from this sermon today, that in the middle of the fiercest Storm. Jesus can bring peace to it. The disciples awakened Jesus, something that the wind and the waves could not do. And here's what we need to see. When the knowledge of the fishermen, like some of these disciples, were great fishermen, they knew this sea. When the knowledge of the fishermen wasn't good enough, when their experience wasn't enough to encounter this storm, when they couldn't bail water quick enough, when the sea was angry and they could do nothing about it, here's what they do. They go to the Master and the one whom they depend on. And so when you walk through storms, here's what you can know. You can do it with a peace, knowing that Jesus walks with you. And so today, whatever your storm looks like, here's what I want you to know. Jesus is present. Panic is present, but peace can also be present. Remember how Mark described that storm in the King James language? What was that word? What was that word? Say it a little bit louder. Church. Come on. Great. That word's great, right? It was a great storm. But look at verse number 39, the last two words. What does that say? It was a great calm. Interesting. The only thing that has changed is Jesus spoke. Peace, be still. And Jesus can bring great calmness to your great big storm with just one single word. With just being present in that storm, he can bring calmness. And so we see the greatness of God. We see the calmness that comes to the sea. We see the disciples there. But here's one thing I don't want you to miss, and I kind of skimmed over it on purpose. This. They're not the only boat in the storm. Look at the end of verse number 36, as they set sail, it says at the end of verse number 36, there were also with them other little ships. Do you think that the only boat that went through the storm that day was the one that Jesus and the disciples were on? Negative. Sometimes the storms that you are going through affect other people. And they do that so that God can get the glory out of that. And so today, whatever storm that you're going through, here's what I want you to understand. There can be peace in the midst of the storm if Jesus is present. We understand the presence of Jesus. We understand the presence of panic and the presence of peace. There's one more point that I want to give you today, and that is this. Look at verses 40 and 41. And he said unto them, why are you so fearful? And how is it that you have no faith? And they feared exceedingly saying one to another, what Manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him. How many of you can attest today, just do this for me. Just do this. Just as a moment of testimony, how many of you would slip your hand up and slip it right back down and say, I know that Jesus can bring the peace. Just slip it up and slip it right back down. The fourth thing that you need to realize is this. Maybe the primary thing in the storm is faith must be present. So here's what I need you to know, Church. The storm is raging. Jesus could be in the middle of it. The panic ensues, the peace is available. But if you don't have faith enough to know that Jesus will take care of it, it's all worthless. And so today, Jesus simply asked two questions to his disciples. Why are you so fearful? And where is your faith? I wonder if Jesus could ask some of us the same question this morning. Where's your faith at? When I think about these two questions in the disciples life, I see that fear was the emotion that ruled the day instead of their faith. And so here's what Jesus is simply saying to them through two questions. You know what woke me up? It wasn't the storm and it wasn't you getting to the destination. We didn't reach the other side. And you wake me up and say, jesus, we're there. The one thing that woke me up from my nap was this. Your fear instead of faith. Now I'm not gonna get in this argument from the pulpit today. There are times that we need to cry out to Jesus. I'm not discouraging that. When you are fearful, please cry out to Jes. But there are times that Jesus is trusting you just to simply have faith and walk and he will take care of it. And you say, I can't make it to the destination. Jesus, I need you. They have a question of their own in verse number 41, and that is this. What manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? Do you see the beginning of verse number 41? Though what was still present? Fear. This time instead of fearing the storm, they feared the one that calmed the storm. Two different types of fear. I want you to know this. When they put their eyes on Jesus, they say simply this. Who in the world is this man that can calm the storm and calm the winds and in one word change the trajectory of our trip? It's Jesus. As I think about closing this sermon, here's what I want to remind you, Church. Sometimes the storm's intention is simply to get rid of your fear and replace it with faith. Sometimes the intention of the storm in your life is so that you'll take your eyes off of those circumstances and even off of your own feelings and say, okay, Jesus, we can't do this anymore. The boat's filling up. The waves are crashing. We can't do it. I can't do it on my own anymore. I need you. And when we come to Jesus in moments like that, that's how Jesus can work. Many of you have been little boats over the past year. Our boat was rocked. But many of you are little boats. You have watched. You've watched moments of fear and panic. My wife watched me pace the floor for two hours. One night. I was fearful. It's amazing when God brings the storms, that when we realize that he is present, the peace that he will give us through that storm, but also the glory that he can get from the storm in the lives of others that witness what you want through. And so today, it's not about Terry and Jeffrey. It's about Jesus. And here's my word of testimony. Jesus has walked us through the storm, and Jesus will walk you through your storm. I look at families that are going through storms around this congregation, and Jesus will walk you through that storm. He doesn't just calm it. And sometimes our prayer is this, Jesus, just make the storm go away. No, no, no, no. That's not the prayer. Because the storms build our faith. And here's our prayer. Church, Jesus, just walk with me. Just be present during the storm and grow my faith in you through it. Be careful. I don't want to ask Jesus to take the storm away because I don't know what the next one will look like. But here's what I want you to know. Church today, there are many of you that are fighting storms. And we can't hold onto the questions that we have. We can't hold on to the feelings of our own. We just simply need to trust Jesus in the storm. And so what I want to ask you today, child of God, is this. Are you drowning in a fear that you can't control? Is here a situation where fear is primary instead of faith believer? Here's what I want you to know. The storm may not go away, but your faith can be the thing that intensifies. Allow Jesus to walk you through the storm, and at the right time, he will bring peace to it. If you are here today and you do not have Jesus Christ as your savior in a very loving way, here's what I want to say Your life, at best, is at the mercy of the storms instead of the mercy of a savior. And so whatever that looks like, you know the storm, you know you're in the middle of it. You know it's crashing. But here's the thing. You don't have somebody on your boat to turn to. You don't have anybody in your life to cry out to when the storm gets so bad. Here's my challenge to you. Jesus wants to walk with you not just through a storm, but through the rest of your life. And so today, if you've never trusted Jesus and you're sailing along in this world and you say, jeffrey, things are good, things may be good for now, but the storm's coming. Who will you turn to today if you need Jesus? I would very humbly say this, understanding your need of a savior, understanding what sin is in your life that separates you from a holy God. Here's what you can do. You can come to Jesus and say this. I am a sinner in need of a savior. God, I trust you to forgive me. Today I will turn from that sin. I'm turning to you in faith. Save me and walk with me through the rest of my life, through the good and the bad. You've got Jesus every day. Then today, if you need him, a savior, you come. Maybe you have more questions than answers. Maybe you're looking at the size of your storm. Maybe today you have felt like Jesus doesn't care and Jesus is not concerned with you. All human emotions. But we know the truth of the Bible is this Jesus will be there. Church. The moment of invitation. I don't care if you do it where you are. I don't care if you come to this altar. If you're in the middle of a storm, here needs to be the prayer. Jesus, I know that you're there and I need your help. As a child of God, walk with me through this storm. If you don't have him as savior, fall on your knees and say, I need you, Lord, as my Savior. I'm turning to you. This altar is open to whatever the need is today. Let's go to him in prayer. Father God, thank you, Lord, thank you that you are our hope and our help. Lord, help us as believers to get our eyes closed off of what is making the noise around us and put them on you. For the things that are rocking life right now that are making it uncomfortable, for the hardships that life brings, for the health challenges life brings. Lord, it could be financial, whatever that looks like. God, I pray, Lord, that you will walk through the storm with your people, but maybe there's somebody that needs to surrender in the storm. Oh, God, I pray that your Holy Spirit will work in that situation, in that life to grow faith in the believer, but also, Lord, to make the unbeliever aware that they need you. God, I pray that you will work through this series and through the reminders, Lord, that you are very present. Help in our time of trouble, God, I pray, Lord, today that as we look and we understand those storms and that we're each dealing with them, we understand that we can walk together as a family in Christ with you, knowing that you will lead us through that storm. Bring peace where it is needed, God, I pray. Bring salvation where it is needed. I pray. Give hope in the hopeless situation today. And we trust you to do all this in the strong name of our Savior. We pray. Amen. [00:30:18] Speaker A: Clifford Baptist Church invites you to join us for worship every Sunday morning at 11am for more information about our church, please call our church office at 434-946-0555.