Step Up & Step Out!

Hello everyone. My name is Pastor roderick caesar the third on the lead Pastor of Bethel Gospel Tabernacle in Jamaica queens new york. And my prayer is that you would be blessed, you would be encouraged and strengthened by this word. Hope you enjoy God bless. We give you glory. What a beautiful God. We serve one that is with us that is able to keep us, that is able to sustain us. Let’s give God praise Hallelujah, you’re worthy to be praised, worthy to be praised. You can type in the chat, he is worthy, he is worthy, he is worthy, he is worthy praise the name of the Lord Hallelujah, what a beautiful, beautiful uh day it is. I greet you in the name of our Lord and savior, jesus christ. Uh, we have just come out of a, a beautiful uh, consecration, a time of prayer, a time of fasting um, uh, at the time of just dedicating our time to the Lord. So from thursday to saturday, excuse me, it’s a saturday. Uh, some of us, we turned down our plates or we just dedicated our time and our energy and focused on the things of God. Uh, thank you so much to all of the tech, uh, the individuals that poured out and made sure that things float smoothly. Obviously we could not meet here in the sanctuary. Uh, so everything was digital, everything. Uh, and we had our first zoom service throughout this whole pandemic majority of our well pretty much all of our services have been through streaming, but we had our first zoom service on saturday. Um, and it was such a blessing to be able to uh see everyone and to be able to interact with everyone and going to the breakout rooms and really discuss and talk about what God is doing in our lives. And so, uh, this is uh, this was a consecration like none other for obvious reasons. Um, and I’m just so grateful for what God has done, what God is doing, how God is moving our, our theme was rise up from Isaiah 30 41 those that 40 31 excuse me, those that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up or rise up with wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. I am so grateful for what God has done in this house, what God has done in this church and what God is going to continue to do as we press forward as we move forward in the face of everything that we are facing, we’re just so grateful that we serve a God that is with us that loves us and that uh, comes and and draws near to us when we draw near to him. So thank you so much to every single person. Every single minister, once again, the tech team for helping things to flow smoothly. I’m just so grateful for what God has done what God is doing and this is just the beginning. So thank you. Um, I’m just so grateful for the opportunity to minister at this house to Bethel Gospel Tabernacle, This is a house of legacy house that of course the Lord built the word says that unless the Lord builds the house that labor is in vain, but this is not a house that uh, I started uh, this is the house, as many of you know that my grandfather started and passed it on through God’s divine providence to my father. And uh, years later after my father, I am now the recipient through once again, the Lord’s divine guidance um, of being the pastor of this house. And I’m just so grateful that even though things are different and things are difficult than were in the midst of pandemic and things that we couldn’t see coming, God is still faithful. God is still Good God is still his hand is still on this house and on the people of this house. And even though we don’t meet in a physical location uh, right now, you, if you’re tuning in and you consider yourself a member of the, of the ministry and a partner with the ministry, God’s hand is on you as well. And with you as well, the prayers that helped to build this house, the prayers that helped to sustain this house are going to be the prayers that continue to help and sustain you as well. So be encouraged and uh partner um, with what God is doing um, in this house as we continue to move forward together. So thank you for all that you are doing. Um, if we are honest with ourselves, I think it’s very important that we know that we want to be better people, right? If you’re honest with yourself, no one will not, no one because there are some people that honestly believe there’s nothing wrong with them. But um, a lot of people may say sit back and and say, oh, I can be better. I can do better at this. I can improve it. This, I can prove in my relational dynamic, I can improve in different areas of our lives and if we’re honest with ourselves and we’re not lying to ourselves or you know, uh, we all want to be better people. We don’t want to improve. We want to be better in different areas whether you want to be more organized, right? Or whether you’re a bit too organized and want to just unwind a little bit. I don’t know if that’s possible to be too organized, but I mean, you know, if you want to just, just unwind just a little bit. Um, whether you want to be more responsible, dropping the ball and you want to say no, I want to, I want to actually follow through, I want to be more responsible. Maybe you want to be kinder to people. Uh, and really watch your tongue, Watch how you say what you say. Maybe you want to be someone that speaks up more and speaks your mind more, um, you or maybe you want to be more understanding, give more grace to individuals, more grace to people in your life. Uh, maybe you want to improve your diet, your health. Um, and you are what you eat, you want to maybe go to the gym uh and and exercise and you want to improve in that area. Maybe you want to improve your perspective, how you look at the world, how you look at different situations that come up. Uh, you want to say, oh man, I don’t want to be such a negative person. I don’t want to be uh such a angry person. Or I want to, you know, look at things with more joy or or maybe you want to switch up different areas in your lives, but maybe you want to switch up in your finances. You say, man, I’ve been dropping the ball a lot lately. I’ve been overspending. I, you know, don’t buy what you don’t need, don’t spend what you can’t afford to spend. Maybe you’ve been doing a little bit of a little bit of overspending and you want to say, you know, I I need to really dial back and look at my finances and manage things a little bit better. Maybe we want to be better in a lot of different areas. But what we’re really saying is we want growth, we want growth and God wants growth for us, God wants growth for us and it’s so important for us to realize because a lot of times as believers, especially as believers, uh we are christian sons and daughters of God and yes that is important, but we can also over spiritual eyes everything and we can just focus on the spiritual but completely neglect the other things in our lives. But last time I checked the bible I read says that jesus says you must love the Lord, your God with all your heart, with all your mind, with all your soul, with all your strength. So there’s multiple avenues in which we are to show our love for God. And if you’re just I’m just high and mighty, I’m so heavenly minded that I’m no earthly good, you know, we need to be able to say yes, I love God with my body, I’m maintaining my temple, my love God with my body. I’m not just abstaining from uh sex before marriage or whatever, but I’m actually watching what I put into my temple, right? So there’s a different different ways that we can look at it or I love God with uh my mind, I’m watching how I think the thoughts that I let sit and resonate and and and and and uh marinate in my mind, I’m watching those things and so we want growth, God wants growth for us and yes, the bible is true when when paul writes, we are transferred from the domain of darkness and into the spiritual, the kingdom of his beloved son. And so yes, we’re transformed on a spiritual level. But just as we’re transformed on a spiritual level, we need to change for the whole man, for the whole woman, we want change and God wants us to change and that means that God is calling us higher. We’ve been in this series from sunday to sunday to sunday talking about God calling us higher. Our concentration theme was rising up and it’s so important to know that God calls us higher and sometimes higher in God doesn’t look like higher, it doesn’t look like elevation. It looks like taking a step forward. It looks like rising up in faith. It looks like taking a step you never thought you would take, it looks like simply being obedient to what God is saying. It looks like simply answering an invitation that was extended to you. So stepping out also could be stepping up, stepping out, could also be stepping up, turn with me in your bibles or follow along on the screen to the book of Matthew, chapter 14 verses 22 through 23. Matthew chapter 14 verses 22 through 23 I’m going to read Yeah 23 to 33 excuse me 22 to 33 and read the scripture and then we’ll pray immediately. He made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side. While he dismissed the crowds, and after he had dismissed the crowds he went up to the mountain by himself to pray, and when evening came he was there alone. But the boat by this time was a long way off from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them, And in the 4th watch of the night he came to them walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified and said, it is a ghost, and they cried out in fear. But immediately jesus spoke to them saying, it is, take heart, it is, I do not be afraid, and peter answered him, Lord, if it is, you command me to come to you on the water, and he said, Come so peter got out of the boat, walked on water and came to jesus. But when but when he saw the wind he was afraid and beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord save me, Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, Oh, you of little faith, why did you doubt! And when they got into the boat the wind ceased and those in the boat worshiped him saying truly, you are the son of God, dear God! I thank you so much for this time. I thank you for this message, I thank you for your word, I thank you for your goodness. I thank you for your mercy. I thank you for who you are in our lives for, how you show yourself mighty, how you show yourself strong for how you care about your people. I pray Lord that as this word goes forth that you would be glorified, you would be exalted, You would be lifted high that your people would be edified. Your people would be strengthened, Your people would be equipped and that your kingdom would be expanded. We thank you, we praise you, we give you glory. We ask these things in jesus name. Amen. Amen and amen. In the last couple messages we talked about uh David writing and saying lead me to the rock that is higher than I when my heart is overwhelmed to lead me to the rock that is higher than I, you know it’s a beautiful prayer but there’s a dangerous line in there and it says lead me. And oftentimes we can pray. Yes Lord of my heart is overwhelmed. There’s a rock that is higher than me that’s gonna deliver it. But but we have to be lead there and being led there me and sometimes we go places we don’t want to go. Sometimes we have to say things we don’t want to say. Sometimes we can’t go places we want to go and we can’t say things, we want to say. Being led means we’re not going uh we’re not, we’re not the ones leading. being led means we are submitted to the will of another. And jesus says, what if any man must uh be my disciple, he must deny himself, pick up his cross and follow me. Following means that we are being led. And it’s so important if we are going to go higher to realize that we can’t do it following our own maps, our own gps, our own directions. We need to follow the will of the Lord. And then we talked about uh jesus who spoke with uh Nicodemus in john chapter three and he said just as the serpent was lifted up in the wilderness. So, so I must be lifted up. So the son of man must be lifted up for all to see because God so loved the world. He gave his only son that whoever believes in him would not perish but have eternal life. And it’s so important for us to realize that as jesus was exalted as jesus was lifted up, we need to lift him up as well, lift him up to draw all men unto himself. We looked at our, our consecration and we realized that the Lord is calling us to rise up. Saints of God. The Lord is calling us to run and not grow weary to walk and not faint and to mount up to rise up on wings as eagles and we looked at the eagle and how and how it’s not a bird that is reliant always upon flapping its wings. But when the air currents come, it expands its wings and and floats in the air pockets and begins to soar and begins to rise up above the storms. And in the same way we can drain ourselves of energy by doing too much work by doing too much flapping of our wings. When God has called us to adjust to trust in him in our weakness and sore and so it’s so important for us to realize that God is calling us higher. He’s calling us higher. He’s calling us higher, say that in the chat, he’s calling us higher, He’s calling us higher. Amen, amen. We all want growth. We all want to go higher in God. But when God calls us higher are we willing to do what’s necessary to go there? We willing to do what’s necessary to go higher. Let’s look at example, an example of someone who was willing to do what was necessary. We realize in the book of Matthew chapter 14 that jesus uh is just now in, in this book, he’s portrayed as the messiah generally to a largely jewish audience. And that’s why Matthew starts with the genealogy of jesus. It starts by talking and saying this is his bloodline. These are his parents, these are his great grandparents, this is his great, great, great, great, great grandparents. When you first open up and read Matthew you’re like, wait a minute. We’re all these names were all these people, what’s, what is going on here. But it’s all to set up the fact that jesus is this messiah that the jewish people have been waiting on, jesus is this messiah and this is how it can be traced by a bloodline. That this is the person of promise that this is the son of man, that this is the son of God. That Jesus was who he said, he was, he’s not crazy, he was who he said he was and his bloodline proves it. And then throughout the gospels, throughout this gospel, excuse me, Matthew is saying jesus is the messiah, Jesus is the messiah. This is the one on whom everything rests. And in this specific chapter in Matthew chapter 14, we realized that Jesus comes to know and comes to understand that unfortunately his cousin john the baptist has been killed, his cousin john the baptist has been killed. Now, this no doubt is something that brings pain to jesus heart. He was close with his cousin. His cousin was the four was the one who rolled out the red carpet for him, the forerunner for him, the one who went before and said, I’m going to make straight the way of the Lord, I’m going to prepare a path for the Lord to walk down and walk through, he was the one that baptized with water and then jesus shows up on the scene and john says, well uhh behold this is the lamb of God whose whose sandals, I’m unworthy to even untie, he said he should be baptizing me. And what we realize is unfortunately john the baptist for taking a stand for christ uh for taking a stand for God and on the side of right, he’s killed, he’s beheaded and what we, what Jesus hears this and of course he’s destroyed, of course he is sad and after this A group of people come and they’re hungry and they realized Jesus is there and he’s going by himself to pray and going by himself to be alone and these people come and they’re hungry and Jesus sees them and the text says he saw them and his heart went out to them, he saw them and he had mercy upon them. And so he feeds 5000 people. After a big tragedy in his life after he suffers a heartbreak and the loss of a loved one, Jesus is now called to give out, Jesus is now called to a work a miracle. Jesus is now called to uh feed 5000 people and he does so not because there’s enough food for 5000, but he prays and makes enough food for 5000, he says yo God chef it up, chef come on cook cook, let’s go make it happen all right and God gets busy, they go to work, he prays and they break and there’s enough fish, there’s enough bread, so everybody is fed and it’s a beautiful thing, It’s an amazing thing. And then after this, of course the people aren’t just gonna leave jesus alone, this is a free mail, I got one meal for the day, I got some leftovers and maybe maybe I can get some more. So they go and they’re trying to clamor at jesus to trying to get more of jesus, but Jesus dismisses them, he dismisses them and he gets in, he tells the disciples look, I’m going to go away, but you guys go before me, you guys get in the boat and you go before me to the other side and jesus dismisses the crowds. He does not uh relish in the fact that the crowd is coming to, to, to clamor and to to to grab a hold of him, but he dismisses them and he goes somewhere else, to a mountain by himself to pray, he tells the disciples to go ahead of him and he dismisses the crowd and he does something important, he goes by himself to pray, he spends time in the presence of God, he spends time in the presence of God, many of us, we love spending time in God’s, we love spending time with God’s people, but we don’t love spending time in God’s presence or we don’t even like spending time with God’s people, right? We just like spending our own time during our own thing, but how much of that is spent actively intentionally being in the presence of God. It’s very important for us to realize that this affects us. And jesus knew that after such a heavy outpouring After me having to have a faith to connect with the father and break this bread and break down these fish and feed these 5000 people. I need to replenish myself. I was just grieving the loss of my cousin and these people interrupted me and now I have to go feed them and now I have to do this and I have many different things and I know that my source does not come from the love of people, but my source comes from the love of God, the source of my strength and many of us, we haven’t twisted because in today’s day and age that would be like us a blowing up on, on social media or us being invited to a major award show where everyone can know us and and and get our attention or something, we have fame, people want to know, jesus, they want to uh grasp him, they want to get something from him. But jesus realized, no, no, no, I can’t, I can’t just give and give and give, I have to be poured into, I need time with my father, it’s like getting an invitation to go do something amazing in front of a lot of people or something like that and jesus is like, nah I can’t do that, sorry, time with God is a priority for me, time with God is a priority for me and it’s so important for us to realize that he drew himself away from the crowd, he just fed 5000, they’re chasing after him and instead of basking in the attention they’re giving him, he flees from their presence instead of basking in the presence there in the attention they’re giving him and saying yes more, I want more love from you people, I want more love from you people. He says, no, no, I need to, I need to get in the presence of my father, I need to get in the presence of my father, Do we value the presence of God, do we value being in the presence of God, Do we value God enough to seek him in the midst of everything that’s going on, Do we value him enough to seek him when, when our attention is being pulled every which way? So let’s take after jesus example, in the midst of everything that was going on, he took a break, he withdrew from the people he prayed and sought the face of the father and when the evening came, this wasn’t just a 10 minute prayer time, jesus, put that work in, okay, he’s like there’s a long distance call hello? Uh put that work in, he’s praying and praying to God praying and the evening comes, he looks up, he’s alone, he’s like yes, they’re gone, people are gone, he’s there alone and so he’s going to meet up with the disciples, but there’s a little bit of a problem. The boat by this time, jesus spent so much time in prayer, so much time in the presence. Now, I just, I just gotta rewind just a little bit if you can’t spend time in God’s presence. Now, if you can’t enjoy the presence of God, now, what makes you think you’re going to enjoy an eternity when all we have is time. You need to prioritize now, you need to make an effort. Now you need to make an intentional commitment. Now to be in the presence of God, it says by this time, jesus was putting in work praying to God, We need to learn to sit and be still and know that he is God. We need to learn to sit and pray and make our requests before the Lord. We need to learn to sit and sing worship to the Lord and sing praises to the Lord. We need to learn to sit and press play and be fed by what the Lord is showing us through sermons or what the Lord is showing us through worship, music, we need to be connected, we need to abide, we need to enjoy the presence of God. How do you think you’re going to make it through the week, How do you think you’re going to make it through the day without enjoying and running to and being intentional about being in the presence of God, that’s what we need to do. Saints of God, I’m telling you, that’s what we need to, that’s what we need to engage in. And so it’s important for us to to realize that. And so by this time the boat was a long way away from the land, beaten by the waves for the wind was against them and in the fourth watch of the night, he came to them, walking on the sea so late at night, Jesus comes to them, walking on the sea. So by this time the boat was away off, he sees the boat away off he realizes, man, like they’re struggling, it’s a storm that that’s kind of raging, there’s waves, it’s choppy weather and the wind was was uh against them and so the boat is struggling and jesus says, man like how can I get to this boat, I’m not gonna be like, you turn around, turn the boat around, come back, I got to get in, you know, maybe they, I don’t know if there was a smaller boat, maybe there was nothing and jesus is just there, like, well, time to walk, you know, like, I don’t know how it happened, but we don’t know why Jesus chose to walk on the water, but maybe it’s because he knew he could, he was like, yo let me flex real quick and just walk on this water? You know, I don’t want to yell for them to come back, but jesus is casually doing something that’s virtually impossible casually, just like just take a stroll on these waves, waves and the wind that’s choppy, that’s that’s blowing these people back, let me take a walk on this water and at first it may seem like a self serving miracle like oh jesus, you’re just trying to cut some time, you’re just trying to you know, make up for lost time, you went with the disciples. So you know the quickest way is is to get on the water and find maybe that’s that is the case, but there’s always more to jesus miracles than meets the eye, there’s always a lesson involved, it’s always a teaching moment, whatever Jesus does he does to teach a lesson a lesson to the disciples, but also a lesson to us who are reading this so many years later to set them up for life change, to set them up for perspective change and to do the same for us to set us up for something that will change our lives, to set us up for something that could change our perspective, to let us know that we too can do the impossible with him, we too can do the impossible with him. So jesus is walking and he comes near enough the boat near enough to the boat for them to see him from afar off near enough for the boat for them to see him from afar off, he’s walking on the water and they’re leaning over and they see something a figure on the water petrified, fearful and scared because the wind is already blowing against them, the waves are already choppy and they see a figure walking towards them and they say it is a ghost. They were terrified, the text says, and they say it’s a ghost and they cried out in fear, no matter how, no matter how, not afraid you are, we’ve all been afraid some way, some shape and some form we’ve all been afraid, but have you ever realized sometimes you’re afraid when you don’t need to be you ever been afraid? I’ve been like I didn’t I didn’t need to be scared of that, I didn’t I didn’t I didn’t need to fear that. But imagine their mindset when they move from fear to comfort to astonishment all within a matter of minutes, they’re immediately afraid because they think he’s a ghost, they cry out in fear, but I love jesus, I love jesus, I love jesus, he’s my savior when storms are raging. Right, so jesus comes up and he speaks to them and says, take heart. It is, I do not be afraid. One of the greatest and most prevalent commands in scripture is fear not do not be afraid. And so jesus says, take heart, it is, I do not be afraid. Sometimes God moves in a way that we do not understand. Sometimes God uh moves in a way that we just don’t get, it does not compute it does not register. And at first were hesitant and even fearful until he confirms that is him moving in the same way, in the same way, this is what is taking place. They’re they’re concerned, they cease a figure walking to them. And jesus says, don’t fear take heart. It is I now he’s not right at the bottom of of the boat or uh very close to them. I believe he is a significant amount of steps away from them, significant amount of feet away from them, but they know his voice, but they know his voice. And so when he says, don’t be afraid, he says, take heart. He says, it is I he says, fear not. They can be comforted, he calls out and he reassures them, I’m so glad I serve a God of comfort. I’m so glad I serve a god that is the Prince of peace. I’m so glad that we serve a God who can calm us down, Who can calm us in our storms. I’m so glad that we serve a God who lets us know that he is with us. And he does the same for us and our storms in our situations. He says it is, I fear not, yes, it looks difficult. Yes, it does not look easy. Yes, I’m moving in a way that I’ve never moved in your life before. But fear not because it’s me. It is. I do not be afraid. Everything in you was going to tell you to fear it’s a ghost. But when you hear the voice of the father, when you hear the voice of jesus, when you hear the holy ghost on the inside, when you hear God, that fear should melt away and it melted away so much for one particular person in that boat, it’s 12 disciples. Another 12. 1 of them is so fearless. But he makes a bold request. Peter answered him, jesus says fear not, it is I. And Peter says Lord. If it’s you out there command me to come to you on the water. Yo What a specific request. If it’s you out there command me to come to you on the water. What a bold request. What a specific request do you ever make a bold request to God? If that if you wanna chat right? Yes. All caps. Yes. A bold request. A bold statement. You ever make a specific request to God. You realize God is moving God. If this is you, I want this has to be this color. It’s got to be this. This car has got to be this year. It’s gotta be this this, this or God, I I need this. If this is you, then I’m gonna do this, then I’m going to step up and I’m gonna do this and that if this is you just just tell me just say the word and God says it’s me and you say hold up, I don’t know, let’s run that pack. I don’t know about that. I was talking a big talk but that means I’m actually gonna have to now step out. That means I’m actually gonna have to make it happen. God, I didn’t mean it like that. But but what what happens when you make a bold request? You’re flipping through scripture? You read hebrews 4 16, let us with boldness come boldly to the throne of grace that we can receive mercy and find grace in time of need. And we go boldly before the throne and we say God you are my God. And we talk a big talk. But then when the trials come, but then when it’s time for us to execute, we say, I don’t know. What do you do when God says come on, what do you do when God draws you closer to himself? What do you do when God says a little bit closer now, a little bit closer now Hey, right, what do you do when God says come and talk to me? I really want to know, right? Like what do you do when God says son and daughter want you to come my way right? Like what do you do when God is like look, I want you to come closer to me, I want you to have a relationship that’s deeper than the one you’ve had, I want to draw you closer to myself, that means you gotta step up, that means you have to get higher. What do you do when God says I want to know you better. When God says, oh you you you told me you wanted to know me better. All right, step out, step out, come on. And you find yourself in a situation, he never really saw it coming. You thought about it, You may be said it, but now it’s a reality. Do you retreat? And do you reject or do you step out and do you step up? What decision are you going to make? What are you going to do when the time Comes? Were all presented with this opportunity at one and 1 point or another in the Kingdom of God. But what are we gonna do about it? What are we gonna do when the opportunity comes our way? You can stay in the boat. That’s only going to get you. But so close you can stay in the boat but that distance is still there. Trust in God comes when we step up. Trust in God comes when we step out intimacy with God comes when we step up, intimacy with God comes when we step out. So peter, this is this is probably one of the most mind blowing portions of the text it says So peter got out of the boat. Okay? And walked on water to jesus. Let’s let’s let’s let’s think about this for a moment. Peter said Lord, If this is you tell me to come to you, jesus says, All right, come to me, Peter gets out of the boat and walks on water towards jesus. He walks on the word that jesus spoke, Jesus has come and Peter says it right on that word, I’m going to step out in faith on that word, I’m gonna step out. He made a bold request and that request was answered and when that request was answered, peter remembered, if I have the faith of a mustard seed, I can move mountains. If I have the faith of a mustard seed, I can step out on this water and stand on it, Peter, The request was answered and Peter had the faith to rise. Peter had the faith to come, Peter had the faith to step out, but stepping out, separates you, stepping out and stepping up, separates you. Peter in stepping out of the boat and onto the water separated himself from the other disciples. For a moment of time, Peter rose above the pack. For a moment of time, Peter rose above the pack and did something differently, stepping out and stepping up and trusting in God is difficult because sometimes it’s going to call you to do things that you’ve never done before. It’s going to call you to step out and do things that you’ve never done before, that no one’s done before, not just you, but no one’s done before, but yet God is calling you to do it and maybe God has given you a vision of how it’s done, peter seeing jesus, but it’s something that no one’s done but stepping out and stepping up requires you to have boldness, requires you to have faith, requires you depend on to depend on someone or something God bigger than your self. So it may be lonely because Peter had to walk it alone. Peter had to walk it alone. The disciples were not with him, Matthew was not with him, the disciples that were on the on the boat did not walk on the water beside him, they didn’t link arms and say let’s do this together, we can make it to jesus, we can join in faith together. No, no, Peter had to step out alone and sometimes stepping out and stepping up is going to be lonely, it’s gonna be lonely, there’s gonna be seasons when God is calling you to himself and you say God, why why can’t I do this? Why can’t I go here? Why can’t I engage in this? Why can’t I link up with these people, why can’t I do this and that? And God is saying I’m drawing you closer to myself and it’s not going to be easy, but it’s going, but it is necessary to maintain uh to be higher in God stepping out in faith and walking on the water, it means you’re doing something that no one’s ever done before. No 1’s ever done before. And every single step is a step of faith. Every single step is a step of faith because sometimes we are too comfortable on solid ground. Yeah, we say on christ the solid rock, I stand and that’s wonderful. That’s great. But sometimes we can get so comfortable in in in our patterns in life that God throws us a curve ball and says, here’s some water for you. Got to take a step. Well, wait, we’re wondering what’s, what’s going on, What do we do? But we have to realize. But even though the water may not be solid, even though where God is calling us in a specific season may not look solid, we have to remember that the word of God is even though the water is not solid, the word is solid. And g and peter is responding to the word that jesus said to him, which was come. And so all he hears is the word and he’s walking on the solid word while he’s over this water, even though the water is something that is not solid. Peter is walking on the word while he’s walking on the water. And while we’re in these difficult seasons, it’s so important for us to realize that we need a word from God to hold on to to walk on while we’re walking on this, This uh this water situation can seem faulty, but we need to have a word that we can run to. So Peter steps out alone, he steps out alone on this water and he walks to jesus. He walks to jesus. I love this portion of the text where it says Peter got out of the boat, he walked on water and he came two jesus. It’s amazing what we can do when we’re focused on jesus. It’s amazing what we can do when we turn our eyes on the savior. It’s amazing what we can do when not just we take a glance, but we fix our eyes, we fix our eyes on jesus. When we fix our eyes on jesus. Not just take a glance, not just take a look, but we fix our eyes on our savior, fix our eyes on our sustainer, fix our eyes on our keeper, fix our eyes on jesus, the christ the author and finisher of our faith, his mission and his purpose for us and his love for us and how he loves us as sons and loves us as daughters. We need to fix our eyes on jesus. It’s amazing what can be accomplished when we focus verse 30 says Peter saw the wind and he was afraid he’s walking to jesus and he’s almost there, step on the water. He’s walking on the water and when we do things that we once thought were impossible. We become water walkers when we do things that we once thought, we could never do. We become individuals that are water walkers. We walk on water when we do things that we thought were impossible when we execute a vision that God gave us and says God, is this really you? And he says yes and we make it happen and something that wasn’t there before is now accomplished because we followed God. We were walking on the water and it’s so amazing for us to realize this because we want to sustain it. But oftentimes when we walk on water, some things can can catch our glance and take our glance away from christ, take our glance away from the mission. Take our glance away from being focused. Take our glance away from what it is recalled to do and then we begin to sink. The text says that Peter saw the wind and he grew fearful, he was afraid, he was afraid and in his fear he began to sink. That’s life or death right there. It’s life or death. It’s not a kiddie pool, He’s walking on, he’s in the ocean. He’s in the middle of the middle of the water, in the, in the huge body of water, he could have died and he cries out to God and says, Lord save me, You know, we sing, I’m no longer a slave to fear, I am a child, this guy and that may be true, but fear can come barging in your door, you know, you know, conversion right in, you know the slave, you’re not gripped by it anymore, doesn’t consistently paralyze you, but it’s still, it just comes through, boom, boom knocks on your door, kick in the door, waving the 44, right, it just boom bars right in and you’re like, wait a minute, wait, wait, wait, hold up, what is this? But the beautiful thing is, Peter didn’t call back to the disciples, yo check this out, Peter didn’t call back to the disciples, he called the jesus. Now granted the beautiful thing about this also is in not calling back to the disciples. We realized that he was closer to jesus, then he was to the boat. He had taken enough steps to realize logically it makes more sense for jesus to help him than it does for the disciples because he left normality a long time ago, he left dependence on his, what he knew a long time ago and he stepped out of the boat and walked in faith to jesus and now he’s closer to jesus, he’s closer to the lord and as he’s falling, he knows who he can turn to your friends, won’t always be there for you, your friends won’t always be there for you, your parents won’t always be there for you, your siblings won’t always be there for you, your spouse won’t always be there for you, your Children won’t always be there for you, but I know I know who I can turn to in difficult situations? Who was an ever present help in time of trouble? Who will never leave me? Nor forsake me? Who calls me and lift me up out of the mire e Clay, who calls me and grabs my hand when I feel like I’m sinking, he lifts me up. Peter says, Lord save me, Lord save me, Lord save me. And in his fear, in his almost drowning, he knows who to turn to God, Jesus picks him up and Peter leans on him and jesus, jesus says to him In verse 31, he reached out, took his hand and says, oh ye of little faith, why do you doubt now? Can we just pause for a moment? Um If I was Peter, I’d be like yo um did you, did you not let’s rewind the tape, Did you not just see that? I have walked on water, Little thing. Come on, I stepped out the boat. I’m walking. I’m I’m making strides, I’m I’m doing it, I’m being obedient, I’m walking to you. But this just shows us the level of expectation that jesus has for his sons and daughters, jesus says, look, I know what you’re capable of. Why do you doubt I know what you’re capable of? If you put your trust in me, why are you fearful? I know what you’re capable of. If you surrender all to me, why are you still holding on to control? I know what you’re capable of. So why why do you go, Oh ye of little faith, Why do you doubt we have to have faith to step out? This shows us that God is calling us to rise up. And it’s not something that we do in our own strength. It’s something that we do when we have faith in the true and living God. And when they got to the boat, verse 32, the wind ceased and those in the boat worshiped him, saying truly you are the son of God. Now we can read this passing and when they got to the boat the wind ceased and those worship them. Or we could stop and focus really quick. I don’t think the boat came to them. I think they had to walk back to the boat together. I mean there’s there’s different information on it. Where did the boat come? Did they walk back? I think they walk back. I think it’s a beautiful picture of a god who is a god of restoration, A god who is a god who is not only with us when we’re on the water, but with us, when we’re falling and with us on the walk back he says, look, you you walked, you did it. And it may be embarrassing to fall. Maybe embarrassing because the disciples were watching in the boat looking like yo peter’s doing it, he’s walking on the water. But then when he falls, maybe they laugh when he falls, maybe that, you know it’s amazing because you have the faith and energy and boldness and step out and do amazing and creative things and do what God is calling you to do in your season and people are cheering for you and all of this thing and everything, but as soon as you fall, where are they in the boat, laughing, then I’m walking on the water with you. And so I think what we have to do is number one realize that God is with us and able to sustain us as we’re walking on the water. But I believe that God is the beautiful thing about it is I think God was walking with Peter back to the boat. That’s a beautiful picture of redemption. That’s a beautiful picture of trying, trying again, dusting yourself off and try it again. That’s a beautiful picture of realizing, okay God is with me, even in the walk back, even in me having to try it again, even in me having to go and retrace my steps, God is with me because he’s with me, I’m okay because he’s with me, I’m all right because he’s with me, I shouldn’t just take it for granted I should worship him when he got back to the boat, they all worshiped him saying truly you are the son of God as we step out Saints of God and as I close as we step out as we step up, What we need to do is remember to worship the Lord. Remember that as he’s calling us to step out as he’s calling us to step up. That he first stepped out, he first stepped up on calvary’s cross when he had the option to call all of the angels to come and take him down, he said, no, I’m going to step up to the plate. I’m gonna stay here on this cross, suffer and die so that they could live. We had the option to, to not go through calvary. He said, I’m going to go through it. I’m going to go through it. I’m going to step up when creation needs me most. I’m going to step out when my sons, when the sons and daughters need me most and I’m not going to stay dead, I’m going to get up, I’m going to be risen. I’m going to step up. I’m going to step out of the tomb and because of that, God deserves all of our priests because of that. He deserves all of the glory, all of the honor. So right now in the chat, you can just type praise him. You can just type, he’s worthy. You can just type Hallelujah. Just remember this, You spell it right. It’s just an amazing thing that we can give God glory and give God praise because he’s worthy of it. He’s worthy of it. He’s worthy of it, praise the Lord praise the Lord, praise the Lord Hallelujah Lord, you are worthy to be praised. You are worthy to be praised. There is none like you. There is none like you. God I thank you father that even when we fall, you are with us, even when we fall, you sustain us, even when we fall, you grab hold of us and you cause us, you give us the strength to walk upon the water to do what was once impossible to do what we once thought was too difficult to endure those seasons. Father, when it seems like we are not walking on solid ground, God is because we are walking on your word, your word is solid. And even though we’re on the water we can trust you, we can trust that you are who you say you are. We can trust that. You can do what you say, you can do, we can trust that you are a keeper and a provider and a sustainer. And we will not fail to give you the praise to give you the honor to give you the glory. We love you when we thank you Lord, we pray all these things in jesus name and everyone said amen, Amen and amen. Now if you heard this message and you don’t know jesus, you say I don’t have a relationship with jesus christ and I want one, I need one. I want to know this God that allows me to do the impossible this God that allows me to walk on the water if that is you and you want a relationship with jesus christ, I’m going to ask you just to pray this prayer with me, there’s going to be a uh a banner that flashes up on the screen, you can text save to that number. Dear God, I thank you so much for who you are in our lives, for how you’ve called us to live for who you’ve called us to be. I pray Lord father that those that don’t know you Lord that say hey I want to come to know you would come to know you as sons and daughters, I pray father that they would believe in your, in you and your death and in your resurrection, I pray Lord that you would uh give them a new insight into a relationship with you, looks like father transform their minds, transform their hearts transform their souls and on this day help them to never be the same, we thank you, we praise you and we give you glory and we ask these things in jesus name, Amen and amen if you made that decision, you made the best decision in this life, give yourselves a round of applause I love you guys, I’m thankful for you guys know that we are praying for you and we’re looking forward to meeting again next week, God bless you, Hello again pastor roderick caesar third here, thank you so much for watching my prayer is that you were blessed. You are encouraged and strengthened by that message. If you would like to be a blessing to the ministry, you can text b g t f I 277977. Again, you can text b g t f I 277977 to sow a seed into the ministry and we thank you. Thank you so much for your generosity. Or you can visit our website at b g t F I dot us for more information. Thank you so much. Once again, I hope you are blessed. I’m praying for you. You love you here at Bethel, God bless