“Jesus and Others Did It
Anyway” #8
Pastor Mike Barnett
THEME: At times, you will
be tempted to stay in your comfort zone and not take a risk, but choose to jump
out of the boat anyway knowing that the safest place to be is in the center of
God’s will!
Matthew 14:22-33 (pg.
692) says:
“Immediately Jesus made the
disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he
dismissed the crowd. 23After he had dismissed them, he
went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there
alone, 24but the boat was already a considerable
distance[a] from land, buffeted by the waves because
the wind was against it. 25During the fourth watch of
the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26When
the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a
ghost," they said, and cried out in fear.27But
Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is
24To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy— 25to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen. (pg. 866)
LESSONS LEARNED BY JUMPING OUT OF THE BOAT:
1) Only jump out of the boat to get _____________(closer) To _______________(Jesus) - No other reason will
keep you in the water when it gets cold and rough.
Matthew 16:24-27 (pg. 694) says:
24Then Jesus said to his
disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take
up his cross and follow me. 25For whoever wants to save
his life[a] will lose it, but whoever loses his life
for me will find it. 26What good will it be for a man if
he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in
exchange for his soul? 27For the Son of Man is going to
come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person
according to what he has done.
·
Jump because it is God’s will for you to jump –
nothing else will keep you in the water when the _______________________(wind)
picks up and the _______________________(waves) get bigger.
·
If you jump for people, you will be __________________________(disappointed)
and hurt.
·
If you jump for God, you jump for all the right
reasons.
2. Not _______________________(everybody)
is going to jump into the water with you - if you jump, you must be _______________________(prepared)
to jump ___________________(alone).
Luke 9:57-62 (Pg. 734) says:
57As they were walking along the
road, a man said to him, "I will follow you wherever you go." 58Jesus replied, "Foxes have holes and birds of the air
have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head." 59He said to another man, "Follow me." But the man
replied, "Lord, first let me go and bury my father." 60Jesus said to him, "Let the dead bury their own dead,
but you go and proclaim the
·
I have never taken a poll to discern who will jump
with me before I got out of the boat
·
I have always jumped when I had the opportunity to
jump for God without paying attention to what the people around me were doing.
·
Since being a “Christ follower”, my decision to take
a risk has never been contingent on what other people were saying, thinking or
doing.
·
I have always been prepared to jump alone when God
asked me to.
·
I am just surprised when people actually jump with
me!
3. Somebody will jump with you, but you never _____________________(know)
_______________(who) its going to be for sure until its time to jump.
Matthew 21:28-31 (pg. 698) says:
28"What do you think? There was a man who had
two sons. He went to the first and said, 'Son, go and work today in the
vineyard.' 29" 'I will not,' he answered, but later
he changed his mind and went. 30"Then the father
went to the other son and said the same thing. He answered, 'I will, sir,' but
he did not go. 31"Which of the two did what
his father wanted?" "The first," they answered.
·
Over the years, I have had some people tell me that
they were going to jump, but didn’t. They stayed in the boat.
·
And some people
who told me nothing and remained silent, actually ended up jumping with me!
·
Some people told me, they were not going to jump, but
ultimately did jump when it came time to take a risk for Jesus.
·
I prefer those who say they will not jump, or say
nothing, but ultimately jump anyway – and so does God!
·
The fact is, those you thought would jump don’t and
those you didn’t give much of a chance to jump will….you just never really know
until it is time to jump!
·
I have given the Minnesotan’s a hard time over the
years for being slow to change and take risk, but when they decide to jump they
really jump and stay in the water with you.
·
Minnesotan’s are gritty and tough when they choose to
be.
4. Jumping is the ________________(easy)
part, it is ____________(staying) in the _______________(water) with Jesus and
your church family that is the real challenge.
Galatians 6:9 says:
9Let us not become weary in doing
good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.
·
The average protestant pastor in
·
I have been tempted to resign more than once. In
addition….
·
Over the 11 years I have had four offers to pastor
other churches – all of which I did not seek.
·
The last one was the hardest. I was offered a staff
position in a church that was less than 20 minutes from my mom’s house where I
grew up and I had friends in that church.
·
My brother
lived just down the street from the church.
·
The pastor called just a few days before we were to
vote to move to
·
He told me I
could give him my answer after the vote.
·
I called back and said no – I knew I had to continue
to pastor
·
The pastor told me I was nuts for turning this
position down and he was not the only one who thought so.
·
Jesus was asking me to stay in the water with Him.
·
God was also asking me to stay in the water with
these beautiful Minnesotan’s that chose to jump in the water with me these past
11 years.
·
Since we moved here in
·
Jesus stuck out his hand and caught me before I
drowned and he is holding me close to his chest.
·
Soon, I feel I will be able to rise up and walk with
him on the water again for the glory of God.
·
I thank God for all of you who have jumped in the
water with me and Michelle.
·
Sometimes the waves have gotten pretty big, other
times, It has gotten pretty chilly…but many people have stayed in the water
with us.
Since
·
Mike, Michelle, Maxwell, Mitchell Barnett
·
Orin and Erma Spencer
·
Tony, Dawn and Jessica Whipple
·
Daisy Christie
·
Tom,
·
Mary Weichelt
= 13 (15) people
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Since the GRAND OPENING, March 30, 1997
·
Tom, Nichole, Karlie, Jenna Fox
·
Lewis, Donna, Terra, Lyda Hanson
·
Pat and Val Adams
= 8 (10) people
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People who have been here 5 years or more
·
Judy Feringa
·
Donna Morris
·
Ernie & Denise Moen, Annie
·
Rhea Moen (Elijah)
·
Judy Johnson
·
Wes Feringa
·
Marlon, Linda, Alex Marum
·
Mark , Dana, Michael Wimmer
·
Chris and Tracy Reese (Rachel)
·
Eric, Jennifer, Lilly, Tommy, Isaac, Grace Tester
·
Kent, Lynn, Ian Gorham
·
Brad and Tracy Zeimet
·
Roger, charlotte, and B.J. East
·
Judy Johnson
· Viola, Shirley, Brad, Ari