Faith Development

Adult Bible Study meets Sunday mornings at 9:30 in Dr. Shaw’s room off of the library.  We begin with coffee, prayer, a little something to eat, and lots of sharing and laughing.  The class is full of lively discussion with no one being put “on the spot.”  We use the Bible as our primary resource along with a Bible study curriculum. 

 “The Bible studies are wonderful. I’m learning more than ever before.  It’s comfortable and easy to share.”  Betty A.   

“Bible study has always been a more meaningful spiritual experience for me.  I learn from the conversations we have.”  Jeff M. 

 

 

Children’s Sunday School meets at 9:30 in a classroom near the fellowship hall.  It has its own self contained bathroom and is off the kitchen.  It is a broadly graded class from 4 years through 6th grade.  Because learning about God is sweet, the morning begins with juice and a little something.  

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Sunday's Sermon

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If You Want To Walk On Water        Rev. Dr. Patricia Ramsden

 

    You know the story.  Jesus needed to be alone with His Father, our God, to recover from a physically and emotionally  exhausting day.  He had been mocked by the people of his hometown when he taught in the very synagogue he had grown up in.  Then as his heart was broken, came the news that his beloved cousin John had been beheaded by Herod.  Jesus then went to a deserted place thinking he would have the time alone with God that He so desperately needed. 

     But the hungry crowd followed, so he fed them with words of the love of God, healed their sick and had the disciples miraculously feed over five thousand people with a few loaves of bread and a couple of fish.  After all their needs were met, Jesus sent the crowd away and even told the disciples to get in their small fishing boat and go to the other side of the sea of Galilee to wait for him.  He would meet them there.  

    At last Jesus was alone with his beloved Abba, His daddy, our God in heaven, to rest and pray.  Even Jesus needed time to care for himself — to take time apart to be with God.  

    That’s one of the important lessons of this story and I don’t want to neglect it.  We all need to take time for self-care, time away from the problems and burdens of the day, from the rush of things we absolutely, positively must get done.  No matter how important our to do lists are, we need time to rest, to recover, to spend with God in prayer before we start again.  If even Jesus needed it, how much more do we?! 

    But our scripture doesn’t end there.  There’s more to tell.  

    The trip back home to Galilee was not smooth sailing for the disciples.  A sudden storm had come up and they were fighting to keep the boat from being swamped and capsizing.  They knew they were in danger of drowning in the sea.  The waves were battering them.  The wind was howling.  When suddenly, they saw what looked like Jesus walking toward them on the water in the midst of the storm.  They couldn’t believe it!  How could even Jesus be walking on a stormy sea!  

    Now notice that at that point, the storm didn’t suddenly stop.    The sea was no calmer,  but Peter took a chance that what looked like a ghost of a chance was actually his Jesus and if it was, he wanted to be with him even on stormy waters.  So Peter cried out, “Lord, if it is you, tell me to come to you.”

    What a lesson for us to learn.  We all have known those sudden storms that come up in life.  We have known moments when it seemed like our boat was about to sink and we were about to drown. 

     But then Jesus arrives in the midst of it all.  Oh, we may not recognize him at first.  We might wonder, like Peter,  if it’s really Jesus at all.  But this story tells us to cry out, even in our disbelief, “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come.”  And when we hear the voice of Jesus say, “Yes, beyond all hope, beyond all logic, it’s me.  Come to me.”  We must be like Peter, for Peter does the unthinkable thing, he got out of the boat to go to Jesus.  

    Now notice that when he decided to do this, when Peter acted in faith that Jesus was there and would save him, the storm did not magically stop and the waves become smooth.  The storm was still raging when Peter stepped out onto dangerous waves, but, in spite of that, he had enough faith to get out of the boat and walk on the water toward Jesus.

    And that too rings true to me.  The storm, my storms, don’t always magically stop the instant I go to God in prayer, the moment I get out of my boat to walk on dangerous seas knowing that Jesus is there too, in the midst of my storm.  

    But having taken the leap of faith, like Peter, I am prey, like him to my own doubts.   In those moments when the storm doesn’t magically stop like I expected it to, I can find myself  taking my eyes off of the Lord and, losing my focus of prayer, my confidence in his rescue, I can start to sink once more.  

    Then, like Peter, I must cry out again, even in my panic, even in my doubt, “Lord save me!”  Save me!  I cannot do this by myself.  I cannot walk on stormy seas without you.  Bring me to safety.  

    Christ responds why did you doubt?  Did you have just a little faith?  

    Yes, I must answer, like Peter, in moments like this when I don’t get the immediate miracle I wanted, when my seas don’t become magically calm and my internal storm doesn’t stop like I thought it would, I have just a little faith.  But it’s still enough faith to cry out “Save me!”  

    It’s the faith of a mustard sea.  It may be small, but, even as small as it is, it’s enough that when planted in the rich soil of trust in God, it can grow into a mighty tree.  Peter and I and you may have only a little faith at times, but it’s big enough to trust enough to cry out to God “Save me.”  

    And in that moment in our story today, Jesus reaches out his hand and brings Peter — and you — and me — back into the safety of the boat.  It is then and only then that the storm stops.  

    But that’s not where the story ends.  There’s still more.  You see, the other disciples had stayed in the boat this entire time.  They were there watching everything that had taken place.  They watched in astonishment as Peter took a leap of faith and got out of the boat to walk on water.  They watched as he started to sink.  They listened as he cried out “Save me!”  They saw as Christ did just that.  And when everyone was in the boat together again, and the storm was calmed, they all recognized who Christ was.  Together they worshipped and proclaimed, “Truly you are the Son of God.”