We are people of faith. Learn to relate to living God in all these situations. God deliver us. Need for the presence of God in my life. In loneliness is the Person. In the noise is His peace. In the ordinary is the special. In trouble there is the provision. (Matthew 8:23-29)

Speaker(s): Pastor Thomas Schaller
Sermon # 11456
7:30 PM on 4/18/2018

P. Schaller

This Friday is the marriage – what do we call it? The marriage weekend. Not a getaway because we are here. If you are dating and want to come. If you don’t want someone to know you can wear a wig!

Mt. 8:23, I’ll tell you ahead of time what I want to say. We tend to be afraid and get worried about things and we close down and don’t reckon on our identity and reckon on our blessings and reckon on what we really have. Maybe we interpret our circumstances first and then we call on God. I also know because of our new birth and because we are doctrinally minded our mind has the ability to relate to Christ and who we are constantly. Not look at the things that are seen, but look at what is not seen.

The spirit and mind are really linked together. Here’s two pieces and this is a puzzle. We can call one part spirit and the other part is mind. Like this. Spirit and mind. My mind can easily get focused and connected with a lot of stuff in life. My spirit, the H. S. in me is saying I am here ready to move. I am the H.S. I am your teacher. I will renew your mind and lead you in truth and build you up and encourage you in who you really are. It’s possible the Spirit is enlightening the mind and we are thinking with God. Do you know this book is a miracle of God’s creation? God created the sun and stars, the ocean, the creation of God but this book is absolutely unique, inerrant, without any error in the original. These are translations and copies but in the original heaven and earth will pass away but not one part of this book will pass away. God gave us his perfect and pure word. As we have this in our heart and mind and the Spirit of God who wrote it is with us in our mind. My mind can get over here in the gutter and in my worry and concern.

We’ll use this story in Mt. 8:23. That’s a great thing to do, follow him. Isn’t it? Follow him wherever he goes.

vs. 24. He was there in it but in a way detached from it. He is resting, thinking. We could use it to think of how much God is in this world but in a way he is detached. He is present, feeling the pain, knowing it all, from beginning to end. He is God. He knows how worried and troubled we can be. How easy it is. We read in the Scriptures about praise, faith, letting the word dwell richly in me. God has not made us to suffer with our trouble. He has made us to be free. He has anointed us with the Spirit so we would have love and joy and peace as a way of life. Not worry, depression, fear but that we would be responding or linked, connected with the mind of God. Is the mind of God worried about anything? No, it’s the mind of God. The peace of God, the ways of God.

vs. 25. This is when my external circumstances get under my skin. When I see the trouble and not only do I intellectually understand but something gets in my very being. I am really concerned. This storm on the sea will bury us. We will drown. It’s over. I can feel it. I’m occupied with it. The mind is like this. It’s independent, detached from the mind of Christ. Now I’m attached with my fear, my destruction. I’m putting it on Jesus also. Jesus, you’re going to die, too. We will all perish. This is in my being and soul and heart. This is what I believe and think. It doesn’t take a long time for me to get detached from the mind of Christ and attached to the things of this world. The news reporting of the world. The fretting regarding evil people.

Ps 34 fret not because of evil doers. My whole mind could get set with an evil man that makes a threat on me and I could go into a tail spin. That evil man is affecting my life and way of thinking and very existence. An evil man is controlling my life. Jesus wakes up in the story.

vs. 26. Why are you fearful? I’m sure they could explain to him why. My experience in my past, what I experienced I was shipwrecked before. How people take advantage of me. Any orientation I have in my heart and mind. Christ is saying, why are you fearful? You shouldn’t be afraid. Lord, we are in a storm. Of course I am afraid. You need to know who I am and who you are and you need to learn to think with me and understand me and respond to me, relate to me because I am here. I am God. The presence of God is here. We may cheat ourselves of an experience with God because of unbelief. When I go to work every day, I don’t feel God or know God. I just relate to my working place and if there is stress, this is what I relate to. God could say why are you living like that? Why aren’t you relating to me in life and bringing me into your working place? Why are you not digesting me in your spirit and heart who I am? Why are you not relating to me as the real God, the living God and respond in that? This storm is not a problem to me. I am God. These troubles. The people you are with. The troubles at home. This is not a big deal. I am God.

I think its possible 2 Tim 1:6 to stir up the gift that is in you. If you ever had a fireplace and saw the embers burn way low, and think it’s almost out, you can get the flame there and get the fire back. If I have a fire and want it out, I separate the embers away from each other and they die out. If you want a fire, you pull it together. I think that way about the simplicity of life for us is to stir up the gift in us. And listen. P. Bruce was saying remember when Dr. Stevens would preach these amazing messages and say I thank God I was able to hear him preach and I was in his church and we saw and experienced so many things. It was such a privilege. It was given to us by God’s grace. Learning this simple lesson and many others.

vs. 26. You have faith. You and I are people of faith. It may be little but little is enough. We are not measuring faith. We just have little faith and it’s enough for me to turn this around. Jesus, we are in a storm. I’m so glad you are here. What is your mind on it? Let’s have a rap session in the middle of the storm. Let’s look to you for the answer. If we perish, we perish. I perish with me looking in your eyes idea. It sounds weird but you get the idea. If we go down, we go down together but I know who you are as God. In you is life and no death at all. vs. 26.

They marveled in vs. 27. They were speechless. They were amazed, in shock. White as a ghost idea. Who is this guy? That’s amazing. What we want to learn to do in our ordinary life is relate to the living God in all these situations and marvel who he is. He can take an ordinary bedroom, living room bathroom anywhere in the world and he can be there in any situation and he can change it into a beautiful cathedral. Holy sacred anointing, the presence of God, the wonder of God.

Anyone remember the Russian dissident, Georgi Vins? He was in Siberia. Remember Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn? The U.S.S.R. made a deal with the U.S. to exchange five dissidents for two Russian spies. Five were released out of the Soviet Union and we sent them two Russian spies. Solzhenitsyn, Vins and this other brother who I had privilege of hearing his story. His dad had factories in Germany. He said Hitler put me in prison. He took over our factories, and the Russians came and took me to Siberia in a camp. He said I got so depressed I wanted to die. I remember my Sunday school lessons and I believed in God. I prayed God I want to die. God spoke to me. Why don’t you change the prayer? Ask me to deliver you. He goes I never thought of that! So he said he was on his bunk and he prayed God get me out of here. The presence of God filled the cell. He said in two weeks they removed me to a coal mine in Siberia. But I saw it as an answer from God. He did take me out of there. I went from one bad situation to another. I believe God did it because he’d been there for years. I got moved to a coal mine. The mine was so deep and dangerous, the guards wouldn’t go in certain areas. The Christians would go to the dangerous areas and quote Scriptures and sing songs. He said God was there. It was the greatest Christian meeting I have ever been in my whole life. He preached in Wooster years ago. We were quoting Bible verses and hymns we remember. Then God spoke to my heart. I’m going to get you out of here. He was one of the five guys.

What is needed is not a change in my circumstances but the presence of God in my life. I’m in a storm and I know we’re going to perish. There is another option. Christ is with us in the storm. I could be thinking the way he is thinking. The H.S. is encouraging me. Then there is this spirit of praise and thanksgiving. Spirit of quiet recognition that in the ordinary is the special. In the crisis is the presence. In the trouble is a provision. In the loneliness is a person. In the poverty there are riches. In my troubled self is the peace of God. Christ is saying come on guys, you don’t realize who I am. I want you to know me, reckon on me, think with me, respond to me and recognize I am here. This is how it is.

vs. 27. Even the Red Sea. Even the gates of Herod’s prison. Even Balaam’s donkey. Even the water Peter walked on. Even the fish in the sea obeyed him. Everything that will ever be is subject to our Christ, our God. He called us to walk with him and relate to him. We could say my BGE bill, my broken car, my car payment, my ordinary life.

Let’s reckon on God. I’d like you to fast one meal on Friday, this Friday. Pray this Friday. We’ll have early morning pray at 6:30 or 7 in the morning. Just during the day on Friday have a time of prayer and one meal. Say something along these lines, if in my mind and heart the H.S. would continually give light to my understanding I will not be afraid of death, my money problems, my friends or enemies because I believe you will answer my prayers. I am coming to you aggressively. I believe you are on the boat. I believe I can ask and you will receive. I believe you can straighten the whole mess out. My mind and heart I’m not afraid. I’m not worried. I don’t have the anxiety because you are my God and you are the God of peace, power, love, joy.

God has a way for every one of us. He is with us and he was kind of amazed they couldn’t get it and it’s a lesson for us to make the effort to get it and not be worried or afraid about any dam thing in this life. We are not afraid of a dam thing. Get a little fire in your belly and get stirred up in it. I’m not worried about a thing. He’s going to bring the extraordinary into the ordinary. I’m not going to live a dead, dull, dried up life. Pour it on Jesus because we are with you all the way.

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