"and you will receive power..."Acts 1 & 2, Pentecost Sermon

Acts chapter 2:1-13

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

2 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. ² And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. ³ And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested^[a] on each one of them. ⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

⁵ Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. ⁶ And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language.⁷ And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? ⁹ Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, ¹¹ both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” ¹² And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” ¹³ But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

May God bless to us this reading of his Holy word.

Let us pray: Father, be with us through the power of your Spirit this morning – may the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be pleasing and acceptable to you – our rock and our redeemer. Amen.

The picture we have here is of the disciples praying together. 52 days ago Jesus was crucified and these guys scattered. One betrayed him. One denied him. The rest fled and hid. None except John even made an appearance at the cross – the moment that the Lord Jesus needs them, needs care and support, the moment he is most lonely – these men abandoned him.

50 days ago… the unthinkable happens. Women who go to anoint his body return running with the news that Jesus is not dead! He is alive. And suddenly he starts appearing among them, he reassures them, he eats some fish, he shows Thomas his scars, he cooks breakfast on the beach and has a beautifully forgiving conversation with Peter, he spends a day walking with a couple to Emmaus and breaks bread with them and for the next 40 days reminds them that this was all part of the plan… Remember back I told you this would happen. Understand now that everything changes. I have conquered death, I have beaten sin – and you do not have to be afraid.

10 days ago… we read in Acts chapter one, that they gather together and ask him about the end of Roman rule, and the hope that the kingdom will be restored to Israel. Jesus must have smiled when he replied that it wasn’t for them to know the timing of everything… But…

But – and here comes the important bit.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end to the earth.

And then as he is speaking – he rises through the air and leaves.

I don’t know about you – but I would be thinking to myself – again!!! He’s going again! We thought we had lost him at the crucifixion, we thought he was gone, we grieved and mourned and wondered at the meaning of it all. But then he was back – it’s been wonderful – and now he’s gone again.

He may have told them to not be afraid… but they are. They hide out in an upper room, and they wait, and they pray.

For ten days they hide and they pray.

And they hold onto the truth that if he was able to rise from the dead, then he is able to come through on his promise of the Spirit.

And that’s when Pentecost happens. As they are praying the heavens open and the Spirit arrives – in power and beauty and strength. And suddenly they are no longer afraid. Suddenly we see them bursting out the house and telling everyone they can see – never mind the language… you have to know this news. The promise has come true – and the promise is for everyone.

And the promise is still fulfilled today.

The reading we did from Joel 2 included verses 28 and 29:

^28 [d] “And it shall come to pass afterward,
    that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh;
your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
    your old men shall dream dreams,
    and your young men shall see visions.
²⁹ Even on the male and female servants
    in those days I will pour out my Spirit.

What made the difference? What did the Spirit do inside these men and women that changed them from hiding, from denying, from bewildered and alone to courageous, certain and faithful? What does this mean for us today?

In Acts chapter 1, Jesus tells them that they will receive Power when the Holy Spirit comes upon them.

This morning I want to explore what this means. Unfortunately, the Holy Spirit in so many of our churches has been regarded in two ways – either he has been largely ignored, or at the other end of the spectrum, he has been relegated to the the spooky and way-out spiritual realm. People start getting nervous at the mention of his name. And yet most of the time, the Spirit works quietly and beautifully among the ordinary things of life, and makes them extraordinary.

In order to look at this power that is promised, we need to clarify a few things about the Spirit first – unfortunately not having heard Doug’s series you may have covered some of these things – in which case see this as a recap!

The Spirit is one of the Trinity – Fully God, equal with the Father and the Son, yet distinct. We see Him working from the beginning of Scripture where at creation he is hovering over the waters – to Revelation where the Spirit and the bride together look forward to the return of Christ. He is a person not an impersonal force – someone with whom we can relate to – there are passages which mention how he speaks to us, how we can grieve him, how he can be insulted or lied to, that he teaches and counsels, that he gives gifts as he chooses and he prays for us. We see Him represented throughout Scripture as fire, as the wind or breath, as a life giving stream and as a companion. Before our story in Pentecost we see the Spirit empowering people for specific moments – to prophesy, or to do beautiful craftsmanship, or to interpret dreams or to lead well. But at Pentecost He is given freely to all.

And each of us here who knows Christ, who entrusted our lives into his care and have resolved to follow Him – each of us here have the Spirit within us. In fact it was His work in our lives that brought us to the point of salvation. 1 Corinthians 12:3 tells us that claiming Jesus as Lord of our lives is possible only through the work of the Holy Spirit.

So he is among us here – he is with us and within us. He took up residence in our hearts when we said Yes to Jesus and He is the same Spirit who took up residence in the hearts of the disciples at Pentecost almost 2000 years ago.

And as Jesus says to us:

You will receive power…. when the Holy Spirit comes upon you.

In today’s world we often feel the opposite though. On a global scale we hear about what is happening in Northern Africa – where Christians are being martyred publicly, we hear about the earthquake in Nepal and the thousands who have lost their lives or everything that made life worth living, social media and newspapers bombard our minds with images of hunted rhino, starving families, crime and brutality. And we feel powerless.

Here in South Africa we struggle with a corrupt government, and inefficient departments. We are being load-shed and water-cut. We face massive unemployment and huge anger at the discrepancy between rich and poor. We hear statistics of 5.5million orphans. And we feel powerless.

But it’s even more personal than that. We watch a friend struggling through the pain of cancer, or fight a relationship that is breaking down, we are treated unjustly at work or battle the growing pile of bills that arrive at the end of each month. Perhaps we even appear to have it all together on the outside while inside we cry out with loneliness and confusion. We feel powerless in so many situations.

Where is this power we are promised? Why does the Spirit seem so quiet? Where is the good news?

In the book of John – in chapters 14-16, Jesus talks a great deal about the Spirit, who he is and what he will do – and I encourage you to take some time to read through all three chapters.

But looking through them, firstly we are told that he, the Spirit, gives Life.

14:18-19 reads

“I will not leave you as orphans – I will come to you. Before long the world will not see me anymore but you will see me. Because I live you also will live.” 

The new life that we live in Jesus comes because the Spirit lives in us and it is his life we now live. It is this life that will see us through into eternity. It is this life that is unending and that has a glorious promise attached. The promise that one day we will live to see justice reigning. We will see the evils of cancer and pain and corruption and brokenness thrown down into the pit defeated. A time will come where all will be made right. This is our ultimate hope – that we have nothing to fear because even the worst – even death is not the end but the beginning of all that is true and beautiful and right. The disciples’ courage came from this deep knowledge that the authorities could kill them, burn them, destroy them – but couldn’t touch their souls. Couldn’t take away the truth that they will see Jesus again, that they will see their friends and loved ones again. Death has been swallowed up in victory – it has been swallowed up by life.

The second thing we are told is in verse 26 of chapter 14:

“But the advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you everything I have said to you.”

The Spirit gives us power to understand and remember and be encouraged by God’s word. Have you ever sat in a sermon and felt as though the minister had looked through your personal diary and was preaching right at you? That’s the Spirit speaking. Or have you found that more often than not your daily devotion seems to be so exactly right for the day you are about to face… or sometimes when you are reading Scripture – something just jumps out at you, or suddenly you see it in a new way? All this is the Spirit speaking. When you are in a difficult spot or struggling with something or speaking to someone and suddenly a verse pops into your mind that you hadn’t thought of in years – All of This, is the power of the Spirit - Him reminding you.

I’m here.

I’m alive.

I’m with you.

I’ve got this.

The very next verse says this

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

One of the most powerful gifts the Spirit gives is peace – in the battles we face, in the fears we fight, in the storms we endure – we are given peace.

Our Emmanuel congregation has a crises prayer sms group – around 100 people have signed up for it and when there is a crises, like Doug’s sister for example – an sms goes out to all 100 people who then and there pray for the situation. What is incredible is that so often we hear testimonies from those who have been prayed for that at that moment, it feels as though someone is putting a warm blanket around their shoulders. At that moment – regardless of the situation – a peace that passes understanding enters their soul.

The Spirit of power does His work.

Peace that defeats fear.

Chapter 15 speaks of fruit – and the Spirit gives us power to bear the fruit of peace – but also of other attributes. Galatians 5:22 tells us that His fruit is

“love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness, and self-control”

We are given the power to love the unlovely, to have joy in the midst of heartache, peace in the fury of war, kindness and gentleness in a world that values arrogance and sarcasm, goodness in spite of evil, faithfulness while surrounded by betrayal and self-control in a society that celebrates self-indulgence. We are different because of the Spirit’s power.

And the end of chapter 15 calls us to testify to this difference – be different and know why you are different. Verse 26 says, “The Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father he will testify about me.”

It is this presence, this power in our lives that will testify about Jesus to a world that is so hungry for Him.

Chapter 16:13 reads “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you…” The Spirit will also whisper to us words of guidance and direction. Jesus when talking about being the good shepherd says, “My sheep know my voice.” As we grow in our relationship with Him, the Spirit enables us to hear Him speak and be prompted and directed by His whispers. And this is beautiful – these are the times where you sense the need to call someone, or go visit – and when you do you find that in a mischievous way God has been at work. And sometimes it’s more than this – sometimes we hear of a need and realise that God is saying to us – “Go! I’m sending you” People are hungry – you go feed them. People are outcasts – you go accept them. People are in despair – you go… take my light. People simply need someone to talk to – you go… listen. The Spirits power enables us to hear God’s will for our lives.

The Spirit also gives us the power to pray. In Chapter 16 Jesus also says we can ask for things in His name, and through the Spirit not only will our joy be complete in this, but we will be able to pray with power. Romans 8:26 reads

“the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words…”

In those times where we run out of words, in those times where we don’t know what is right or what is best, in those times where we simply cry out to God for Help – we can know that the Spirit is praying for us with the words we don’t even have language for. There is power in prayer because He is praying even when we cannot.

So many times when we speak of the Spirit’s power we think of the prophecy and tongues, or miracles and words of knowledge. And yet the Spirit’s power is real and tangible in so many more ways than that. Yes he still heals today. Yes there is prophecy and tongues and miracles – and what a joy it is to see Him at work like that. But that will need to be another whole sermon.

This morning I want you to realise that His power is a daily provision for you – a gift from God that enables you to live life fully. He lives within us so that when we hear about terrible situations in the world he gives us the ability to pray even when we don’t know what we should be asking for. We can take situations of war and conflict and simply ask for Him to work trusting that the Spirit will continue the conversation with the Father long after we have said Amen.

He lives within us with power when we watch our country struggle and enables us to live with joy even when circumstances are dire and news is negative. He enables us to face uncertainty with courage, he prompts us into actions where He can work through us to change things, He gives gifts of patience and self-control that diffuse situations and bring him glory.

He strengthens us with power to believe in eternity when journeying with our friend with cancer. He gives us wisdom to heal relationships, and trust to believe that he will provide when bills pile up. He gives us peace when our world feels as though it’s collapsing.

This is the power of the Spirit.

And our role is to trust Him. Trust Him that you have new life and therefore nothing to fear. Trust Him to speak to you through His word, and that he will whisper guidance in moments of need. Trust Him to provide peace in the storm and to grow fruits of love and joy and gentleness and self-control in your life. Trust him to use your life as a witness to testify in the lives of others. And trust that he loves you so much, that he is praying for you continuously – and that when we pray, we are simply joining in.

Pentecost is a time where we celebrate the Spirit. Where we recognise Him for who he is and praise him for all He does. Remember Jesus words to us – you will receive power… when the Holy Spirit comes and so you will be my witnesses.

I pray that as you go into your week you may recognise the signs of the Spirit at work in your life. I pray that you will experience his power as you read His word, as you go to work, as you wake up and as you go to sleep – that you will know you are never alone. I pray that you will trust in this power at work in your life – and come to know and love him more because of it.

Let us pray.

"Reasons to celebrate" Psalm 98 Sermon

Last week Theo spoke about Psalm 103 and looked at the “who what why where when and how of worship”... and if you missed it – ask Theo for a set of notes… I’m sure there are a few spare!!

Tonight we going to continue a little along the same vein and look at another Psalm and see what it teaches us about Worship… particularly the “why” and perhaps reasons why we struggle to truly worship.

So the Psalm we’re going to look at it Psalm 98 – it’s on page…. In your pew Bible. Psalm 98 forms part of what are known as the “enthronement Psalms” which – exactly as the name sounds, are Psalms that focus on Praising God, that the Lord is King and that he reigns. They include Psalms like the Psalm 95 that you heard in the Call to worship… or the well-known Psalm 97 which reads:

The Lord reigns, let the earth be glad;
    let the distant shores rejoice.
² Clouds and thick darkness surround him;
    righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne.
³ Fire goes before him
    and consumes his foes on every side.
⁴ His lightning lights up the world;
    the earth sees and trembles.
⁵ The mountains melt like wax before the Lord,
    before the Lord of all the earth.
⁶ The heavens proclaim his righteousness,
    and all peoples see his glory.

For Psalm 98 we are not given an author but simply the title “A psalm” so let’s read from verse 1:

¹Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvellous things, his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.

²The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations.

³He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

⁴Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music;

⁵Make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing,

⁶with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn – shout for joy before the Lord, the King.

⁷Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.

⁸Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy;

⁹let them sing before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.

May God bless to us the reading of His Holy Word, now and forever.

Let us pray – Father God, be with us as we speak about worship and about your greatness, May the words of my mouth and the meditations of each of our hearts be pleasing and acceptable to you who are our rock and our redeemer. Amen

I love how this Psalm is all encompassing – we are to sing a new song, the earth shouts for joy, the sea resounds, rivers are applauding and the mountains form a choir. Everything is created and has its expression in worshipping its creator – it just sounds right and straight forward.

And yet I think if we honest for us – sometimes it’s not. Worship doesn’t seem to spring from our lips as quickly as it does from the these Israelites. We find that during services we get distracted by the tune or by thoughts flying around our heads. We find ourselves singing but singing words without necessarily recognising their meaning. We go through life not always recognising God or His work around us…

And yet here we are called to a place of simple rejoicing and revelling in the glory of God.

Why do we struggle?

I think there are a couple of things.

Firstly – when we think of God, we often think about him to ask him for stuff, or to measure Him according to whether we feel he is meeting our specific needs at that given time… and if he’s not – we tend to question Him. 

Israel simply Praised Him.

Praise is our amazement at God and God's greatness, our recognition of the power and tenderness of the creator. Praise enjoys and celebrates God's love, and it is our best attempt to feel, say, or sing something appropriate to God. Praise doesn't ask "What have you done for me lately?" but instead exclaims "How great Thou art!"

And so it’s important to have an entire mind-shift in terms of what we do in church, and how we relate to God in our day-to-day relationship with him. Praise isn’t something that works for us, or that we tick off in a box once it’s done so now we can get on with important business of asking him for something. Praise isn’t productive… it’s not even about me at all. Praise is about a God who has done marvellous things, who has worked salvation for us, who has remember his love and his faithfulness. Praise is about an expression of love that honours Him in his holiness.

Just for a moment focusing on Sunday Church… many people who come to worship think that church is a lot like the theatre. So they come to watch, to observe, to listen, perhaps, to be entertained. They see themselves and the other members of the congregation as the audience. And that all seems to make sense. After all, the ministers are the ones up front on an elevated platform not unlike a stage. The ministers can at times dress up in something like costumes. The ministers are the ones who seem to have the leading roles. And they are the ones who are ably assisted by a supporting cast which our musicians and our welcomers, and our elder on duty and whoever leads the prayers... It is only natural that most people who come to worship think of themselves as the audience.

But Soren Kierkegaard, the nineteenth century Danish philosopher, said we have it wrong. If the ministers have the leading roles, if the choir and organist are the supporting cast, if the congregation are the audience, then what role does God play when we worship? The problem with thinking of ourselves as the audience is that it leaves God out of the picture, and out of our worship. So Kierkeggard proposed a different model. He asked, “What would it be like if we understood worship like this: we parishioners the congregation – ‘you’ are the primary actors and actresses; and have the leading roles? The clergy, the musicians and all those involved--they form the supporting cast. And God, said Kierkeggard, God is the audience. All that we do in worship is directed toward God. The way we say the prayers, the way we sing the hymns, the attentiveness we give to Scripture and sermon, the money we offer: all of that contributes to our worship performance before God.

Then Kierkeggard raises the truly troubling question: What, do you suppose, does God think of our worship performance?

And worship, when done with sincere hearts, in spirit and in truth – is one of our best defences and weapons against the evil in the world.

Because let’s be honest for a moment, what this Psalm says – and what we see when we walk out these doors into the world are often in complete contrast to each other. The nations are not praising God. The ends of the earth are still closed to the Gospel. There are situations where it can be hard to see His love and His faithfulness and righteousness in the busyness and harshness and illness and brokenness we witness. Many times it would even seem that a large chunk of the world are getting along without God quite comfortably.

And Praise is also cheap, today. Everything is praised. Soap, beer, toothpaste, clothing, mouthwash, movie stars, all the latest gadgets which are supposed to make life more comfortable -- everything is constantly being "praised". Words like divine, awesome, wondrous are overused to the point of powerlessness. Praise can thus become empty . . . Are there any adjectives left for God? Is everything now as important, as glorious - as the creator is? Have we therefore lost sight of what awesome and majestic and powerful really mean? Have we forgotten what God has done, what he is doing and what he will do?

The power of this Psalm is that it defies that idea. It is utterly opposed to a world where the promises of God have no bearing on the rest of our lives. At the heart of our psalm where it says "make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth . . . make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord" (verses 4a, 6b) declares that God is creator of heaven and earth and thus is God of all life and all people, whether they acknowledge it or not, whether they are religiously inclined or not, whether they worship other gods or not. The truth that we proclaim and that the Psalmist lays bare is that there is only one God to whom alone belongs our worship and praise.

And so Praise is one of our best counters to evil in the world. If we are "lost in wonder, love, and praise," there is not much chance we will stumble towards sin, or find ourselves jaded and cynical.

The song that tells us – “Turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full in His wonderful face, and the things of the earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of his glory and grace.” Is speaking about exactly this… we defy the evil and the brokenness and the loneliness because we choose to look upon the one who is the source of all goodness and wholeness and relationship.

And so worship is actually a faith response. Its about singing the praises of God louder than than those who will shout about the evils in the world.

In Greek mythology, Sailors were constantly shipwrecked when seduced by the songs of the sirens. They would hear the sounds of this evil singing and wouldn’t be able to help themselves from being drawn to it. One of the heroes - Odysseus managed to sail past their perilous rocks by stuffing wax in the ears of the rowers and strapping himself to the mast of the ship; but Orpheus simply pulled out his lyre and played a song more beautiful than that of the sirens, and the rowers listened to his song and sailed to safety.

This is what we do – we sing a song with our voices and our actions and our thoughts and our conversation and with our lives – that speaks more about the beauty and majesty of the creator.

And so we choose to celebrate. We also need to realise that the news we receive is skewed, its one sided and papers write about what sells. What sells are the stories of devastation and cruelty. The dirtier the secrets the uglier the picture – the more it sells. These are some of the songs of the sirens. And so we listen to the radio and we find ourselves talking about the horrors that we hear about. We find ourselves becoming negative and fearful. We forget that in the midst of all this – God is at work. God is on his throne. And God will return all things to how it should be.

This is where our Psalm ends in verse 9 we read:

 ⁹let them sing before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and he peoples with equity.

This is what we look forward to. A time of no more tears or mourning or crying or sickness or pain. Where the old order of things have been defeated. So with defiance we hope and we praise.

But here and now the kingdom is spring up among us. I see families which are thriving and striving to follow Jesus. I see schools where God has placed Godly teachers being turned around and kids being mentored and encouraged. I see the Bible being translated into more languages every day. I see beauty in sunsets and mountains and oceans. I see healing and reconciliation happening. I read about people being rescued from slavery. I watch the wonders of the medical world bring health and wholeness to patients. I know people who have discovered Jesus as their Lord and Saviour – I’m one of them! I baptised a little girl this morning declaring her to belong to God.

God is at work.

God has not left.

God is doing beautiful beautiful things.

And this is what next week is all about. Our Missions expo has four purposes attached to it

Awaken, Connect, Testify, and Support.

We are praying that what happens in the hearts of all that attend is that they come and they are awakened to the fact that God is at work, that they may connect to this work and testify about it – that they support his work in prayer or finances or involvement or in whatever way God has prompted them.

We celebrate that God is at work here at Emmanuel, that he is at work in Pretoria East and South Africa – and that he is at work throughout our world.

¹Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvellous things, his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.

²The Lord has made his salvation known and revealed his righteousness to the nations.

³He has remembered his love and his faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

⁴Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music;

⁵Make music to the Lord with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing,

⁶with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn – shout for joy before the Lord, the King.

⁷Let the sea resound, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.

⁸Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy;

⁹let them sing before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples with equity.

I pray that as you go from here that you will worship for an audience of one. I pray that you will defy the darkness by celebrating the light. I pray that you will sing a new song in your hearts, a song that will sing louder in your lives than any noise of the world. And I pray that you will see and celebrate the beauty of our Magnificent God who is at work all around us.

Let us pray.

Weathering Storms: Sermon

Dr. Seuss the writer of children’s books, often captures deep truths in simple statements. A quote I read of his in preparation for this sermon reads:
 

Troubles of all sort come throughout our lives – some develop slowly over time, some happen suddenly and shockingly, some have a nasty habit of reappearing time and time again. And while we wish we had a big bat with which we can fight back – it’s not actually that simple.

In the last few weeks – we as a congregation have faced trouble, have seen heartache and have weathered storms. Yesterday we assisted with the funeral of a beautiful young girl, the daughter of one of our families.

And the reality is that each of us, at some time, has gone through trials and difficulties, has suffered and has journeyed through valleys of pain and loss and heartache.

This morning I’m going to be looking at weathering storms. Looking at what we can use to hold us and help us, to get our lives through rough seas and dark clouds.

We will be looking at multiple readings this morning but I’m going to start with one from the book of Mark – a well-known story of Jesus and his disciples. Its Mark chapter 4 – and I’ll be reading from verses 35-39

“That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!

Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.”

May God bless to us this reading of his Holy Word.

Let us pray:

Father, as we come to your word this morning speak to our hearts, guide us and encourage us. May the words of my mouth and the meditations of all our hearts be pleasing to you and bring you glory. Amen.

The storms that happen in the sea of Galilee are fierce, unpredictable and extremely dangerous to small boats. Because of the relatively shallow waters, the winds are able to create a great disturbance. In our reading we are told that the waves were breaking over the boat to the point of them being swamped.

Storms have the ability to grab our attention, to question life, at times to shake us to our core. Whether the waves carry labels of illness, or financial strain, or broken relationships or loss – each of them can frighten us, intimidate us and at times even leave us devastated and in despair.

How do we survive in our little boats? If we are honest we know we are fragile. The Bible describes us as grass – in 1 Peter 1 we read

“All people are like grass,
    and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall…”

Those beautiful little flowers we see in the veld – we are as fragile as that. And while we like to hold on to the idea of us being strong and in control – it’ll often take just one wave to shake our strength, and we realise that we have very little power at all.

But we do have some things that never change and are a gift of strength to us as we journey on these seas – and the first is the gift of hope as an anchor

Hebrews 6:19 reads:

“We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure.”

The hope that we have is that this is not all there is. That while it may seem that what we can see and touch here is the only reality – there is a beauty and reality far more permanent and true than this.

And so our hope rests in a God who not only created us, but who longs to be known by us. A God who loves us so much that he became one of us that we might love Him. He then died for us to enable us to live forever, and that we may know Him and know his love.

He then gives us his Spirit, who lives inside us as a promise, as a foretaste of what awaits us when our journey here is finished.

And so we have hope knowing that there is meaning and purpose behind all that happens. We have hope because we know God has not left us but rather is intimately involved in our lives. One of my favourite stories is of a painting depicting a burnt down cottage, and in front of it an old man, who has clearly just lost all that he has. Holding the hand of this old man is a young boy sobbing. The Title of the painting is “Hush Child – God ain’t dead”.

We serve a living God who is on the throne, and who has promised us that one day – all that is wrong will be made right. That one day injustice, evil, cruelty and heartache will be destroyed. That one day cancer and corruption and abuse and slavery will be abolished… and that he will wipe every tear from our eyes and there will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain for the old order of things has passed away.

We do not need to fear death for it has been conquered. Our anchor is lodged in the truth of hope. No matter what waves and storms may beat our boat – our hope, our anchor can hold firm.

As the old hymn tells us

It is safely moored, ’twill the storm withstand,

For ’tis well secured by the Saviour’s hand;

And the cables passed from His heart to mine,

Can defy the blast, through strength divine.

We have an anchor that keeps the soul

Steadfast and sure while the billows roll,

Fastened to the Rock which cannot move,

Grounded firm and deep in the Saviour’s love.

The second gift we are given is the Word as our light.

Psalm 119:105 reads

In stormy waters one of the most comforting sights for a boat is the lighthouse. Not only is it a promise and encouragement of land nearby, but it also provides guidance and direction around dangerous rocks and shallow areas.

The young adults group that meets here on Tuesdays are studying a group of psalms called the psalms of accent. And what we keep discovering more and more is that every human emotion, every struggle seems to be captured in the psalms. We have the writer crying out for deliverance, for guidance, for favour. There are moments of questioning –

Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favour again?

Why, O Lord, do you stand far off?

There are moments of great joy and trust–

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad, let the sea resound and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant and everything in them – Then all the trees of the forest will sing for joy” Psalm 96:11-12

The Lord is my shepherd – I shall not be in want…” Psalm 23:1

God’s word for us can be as that lighthouse is – an incredible source of encouragement and promise. But it also is His chosen way of speaking and guiding and comforting us.

We can read of his faithfulness to David as he faced giants and Daniel as he faced lions.

We can read of his provision as he leads his people through dry and desert areas.

We can read of his power as we see Him create the world and split the oceans.

We can read of his love as we look at a cross that he went to for you and me.

And his word can be a light to us in dark places.

Going back to a verse that we read earlier from 1 Peter

“All people are like grass,
    and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall…”

The last part of that verse reads – But the word of the Lord will stand forever. The light never goes out.

We have hope as an anchor and his word as a light.

And finally, we have Jesus as a companion.

In our first reading for today in Mark 4, we read of the disciples in the storm and in a boat that is ready to sink. And then we read;

Jesus was in the stern.

Jesus was there. While the storm was terrifying them all – they had the creator of water and lakes and storms there with them.

 The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?”

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!

Then the wind died down and it was completely calm.”

I love the power in those words. He rebuked the wind and said to the waves…

Our boats as they are tossed about by waves and storms, always have Jesus in them. We are never alone.

“Never will I leave you – never will I forsake you”

“Peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you.”

“I will not leave you orphans – I will come to you.”

“In this world you will have trouble – but be brave – I have overcome the world.”

We are not made to weather storms alone. Not only is he present with us in the boat – but he also understands. As he walked here among us, as one of us, he experienced grief, betrayal, fear, exhaustion, frustration, loneliness and pain. He is not a God who cannot sympathise or who stands far off – but rather one who knows, who understands, who loves us – and who has the power to change things.

And we are not by any means promised a storm free life. We are not even promised that when we turn to Him that he’ll click his fingers and everything will go smoothly as we would want.

There is a saying that says – “Sometimes God calms the storm… sometimes he lets the storm rage and calms his child.”

The biggest storm is often the one that rages within our hearts and in our souls. And in the midst of whatever rages around our little boats – may we hear the words deep within – “Quiet. Be still.”

In the Narnia series, C. S. Lewis writes of Aslan, who relates to the world of Narnia as Jesus does to our world. In the Voyage of the Dawn Treader, the books characters are sailing a ship into unknown seas. They come to a patch of darkness and in rowing into it find themselves in a terrifying situation – a situation where their worst nightmares become reality. They have rescued a man who has been trapped there for many years – and now are struggling to get out themselves. In this dire situation Caspian, the King turns to the ship’s captain Drinian:

"Drinian," he said in a very low voice. "How long did we take rowing in? - I mean rowing to where we picked up the stranger."

"Five minutes, perhaps," whispered Drinian. "Why?"

"Because we've been more than that already trying to get out."

Drinian's hand shook on the tiller and a line of cold sweat ran down his face. The same idea was occurring to everyone on board. "We shall never get out, never get' out," moaned the rowers. "He's steering us wrong. We're going round and round in circles. We shall never get out." The stranger, who had been lying in a huddled heap on the deck, sat up and burst out into a horrible screaming laugh.

"Never get out!" he yelled. "That's it. Of course. We shall never get out. What a fool I was to have thought they would let me go as easily as that. No, no, we shall never get out."

Lucy leant her head on the edge of the fighting top and whispered, "Aslan, Aslan, if ever you loved us at all, send us help now." The darkness did not grow any less, but she began to feel a little - a very, very little - better. "After all, nothing has really happened to us yet," she thought.

"Look!" cried Rynelf's voice hoarsely from the bows. There was a tiny speck of light ahead, and while they watched a broad beam of light fell from it upon the ship. It did not alter the surrounding darkness, but the whole ship was lit up as if by searchlight. Caspian blinked, stared round, saw the faces of his companions all with wild, fixed expressions. Everyone was staring in the same direction: behind everyone lay his black, sharply-edged shadow.

Lucy looked along the beam and presently saw something in it. At first it looked like a cross, then it looked like an aeroplane, then it looked like a kite, and at last with a whirring of wings it was right overhead and was an albatross. It circled three times round the mast and then perched for an instant on the crest of the gilded dragon at the prow. It called out in a strong sweet voice what seemed to be words though no one understood them. After that it spread its wings, rose, and began to fly slowly ahead, bearing a little to starboard. Drinian steered after it not doubting that it offered good guidance. But no one except Lucy knew that as it circled the mast it had whispered to her, "Courage, dear heart," and the voice, she felt sure, was Aslan's.”

Courage dear heart.

In life storms will come – some will do damage to our boat, some may even feel as though they may overwhelm us. But as the disciples saw, as Lucy found out – we are never alone. We have Jesus as our companion.

Three things to hold us together – to enable us to weather storms. We have hope as an anchor firm and secure. We have the Word as our light to encourage and comfort. And above all, we have Jesus as our companion.

And Jesus says, “In this world you will have trouble – but be brave, I have overcome the world.”

Courage dear heart.

Let us pray.