Sermon Notes

1. Why We Exist: Champion
Family & Friend’s Day
“Love Lifted Me”
SCREENS> Matthew 14:25-30 NASB
25 And in the fourth watch of the night He came to them,
walking on the sea. 26 When the disciples saw Him walking
on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And
they cried out in fear.27 But immediately Jesus spoke to
them, saying, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”
28 Peter said to Him, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come
to You on the water.” 29 And He said, “Come!” And Peter
got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came
toward Jesus. 30 But seeing the wind, he became frightened,
and beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”
SCREENS> Love Lifted Me!
If you don’t mind, this weekend, I would like to borrow just 25
minutes of your time to preach from a familiar passage of
scripture. We’ve all heard the story of Peter walking on
water, and admittedly I’ve preached enough in my almost
seventeen years of preaching that I should be bored with
this particular narrative. But honestly, I’m absolutely
fascinated with this text. See the power of scripture is not in
the written word on pages, the power is in what happens
when those written words become the living words in our
hearts.
This particular text is absolutely powerful to me, not because
of the words on the pages but because just like the
disciples, the brothers in the text who want nothing more

2. than to follow Jesus find themselves in the middle of a storm.
See I can identify with these brothers, because just like
them, I followed Jesus into some storms. And I know it’s early
but can I preach to about ten folk in here, that have walked
into some storms, when all you were trying to do was follow
Jesus?
 And what’s crazy is people will judge you by your storm!
 They’ll judge you by what you’re going through!
o If God was really with him, he wouldn’t be
struggling!
o If God was really with her, she wouldn’t be in this
mess!
 But would you go ahead and push your
neighbor and say don’t judge my season, until
you know my reason! – [WORK]
Come on let’s jump in the text!
SCREENS> Matthew 14:25 NASB And in the fourth watch of
the night He came to them, walking on the sea.
For the sake of time we’ve fast forwarded the story up to the
good part. I don’t want to insult your intelligence, but if you
didn’t know the disciples are caught in the middle of a
storm. The Bible paints a picture of waves crashing against
the sides of the boat, lighting striking the sea of Galilee,
thunder roaring. They are indeed in a precarious situation.
The Bible describes the winds as contrary, adverse,
opposing or against. Oh God, let me make this preach. In
other words, everything is working against them.

3. Now please remember that it was Jesus who constrained
them, or commanded them to get in the boat and cross the
sea but yet, everything is working against them. Jesus did
not ask them to get in the boat, the text implies in verse 22
that Jesus commands the disciples to get in the boat. So
here we are simply doing as we were commanded and
everything is working against us. God,, how in the world are
you actually going to send me into a struggle?
 I thought it was your will for me to be in this relationship,
so why does it hurt so bad?
 I thought you wanted me to go back to school, so why
is it costing me so much?
 I thought you wanted me to serve in church, but why is
everything working against me? Can I preach!!!!
And here’s what’s crazy about the text, and I pray I don’t
get in trouble with my contemporaries, but Jesus sent them
into a storm that He didn’t walk with them in! God
somebody’s going to catch this. He sent me, but He’s not
with me! He’s watching me, but He’s not with me! He knows
what I’m going through, but He’s not with me! And this is the
reality of the Christian condition at times, because though
we don’t like to admit there are times when we know that
God is aware but not present. Come on tell the truth!
And that’s what drive us crazy, just like the brothers in the
text, some of us have been in the middle of some stuff
SCREAMING God where are you?
And that is what I love about this story, because He may not
come when you want Him, but the text says that in the
fourth night of the watch, Jesus came walking on the sea!
God I know it’s early, but He’s walking on what’s driving

4. them crazy! What’s frustrating them it’s under His feet! Have
you ever stopped to consider that maybe the reason that
God isn’t in a rush to get you out of your situation is because
it’s already under His feet! You missed it! In essence Jesus
says, what I got to hurry for, I GOT THIS!
 Whether I show up today or tomorrow, I GOT THIS!
 Whether you’ve lost a little bit, or everything, I GOT THIS!
 Even if your heart is broken and you’ve lost your mind, I
GOT THIS!
o There is nothing you can lose that I can’t recover, it
may be driving you crazy but it’s under His feet!
The text says, that it was in the fourth watch of the night that
Jesus showed up! The fourth watch of the night, also known
as twilight which is the time between dawn and sunrise.
Now this is important, because most preachers say that He
showed up at midnight. But there is a significant difference
between midnight and twilight. Midnight is the point in time
in which you are in the middle of darkness. In other words, it
is the halfway mark. Twilight on the other hand is about five
to six hours after midnight. Twilight is the period in which
darkness shifts to daylight!
I came to tell somebody that you’ve graduated from
midnight to twilight. Midnight was last year! Somebody’s in
twilight right now! Which means it still dark, but your
expectancy has changed! It’s getting ready to shift!
 It’s still dark, but daylight is on the way!
Let’s get back to the text,

5. SCREENS> Matthew 14:26-27 NASB
26 When the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were
terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out in
fear.27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take
courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”
Now I gotta hurry up and rest my case, I truly do not have
the adequate amount of time to appropriately unpack this
pregnant text, but please afford me the pastoral latitude to
throw a homiletic stone at it and bounce. The text says, that
they’re afraid, they’re tripping, they’re crying out, but
immediately Jesus spoke! I’m mature enough now to
understand that I don’t always need God to something in
order for me to feel better about what I’m going through. I
don’t need Him to do anything, truth be told, He’s already
done enough, I just need Him to say something!
 The centurion told Jesus, I don’t even need you to show
up, just say the word!
o Now that was for my Bible scholars, for everybody
else, Shug Avery said, Speak Lord! [WORK THIS]
SCREENS> Matthew 14:29-30 NASB
29 And He said, “Come!” And Peter got out of the boat, and
walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But seeing
the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he
cried out, “Lord, save me!”
The command in the text is clear. Jesus said come! Please
notice that this storm is distinctively different than another
storm that the disciples found themselves in. Because it was
in another storm where Jesus was sleeping in the boat and
woke up in the middle of the storm and spoke peace into

6. the situation. Now this storm is discriminately different
because this time, Jesus does not speak peace into the
storm, he calls for Peter to walk through the storm! I wish I
had a church in here.
Don’t miss this, in the middle of the storm, Jesus said, COME!
I know you’re scared, but come on! I know it hurts, but keep
coming! Surely you’re tired, but keep on coming! This isn’t
the time to stay still or stagnant. This is not the time to get
stuck with other people just because they’re too scared or
too rigid or just too sorry to bust a move. No, this is the time
for you to get out of the boat and start walking!
Why in the world would I stay in the storm if Jesus is telling
me to come on! Naw, later for that! How are you going to
let people hold you in a situation that God has called you to
walk out of! [GO CRAZY]
The text says,
SCREENS> Matthew 14:30 NASB But seeing the wind, he
became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out,
“Lord, save me!”
Now this is what I came to preach right here! So let’s have
church and let’s go home. In the text, we have Peter who
has stepped out of the boat and on to the water. He’s
walking towards Jesus, doing the impossible. He has faced
his fear. He’s actually making progress, but then the text
says that he gets distracted by the wind and begins to sink!

7. I could preach about the distraction and talk about how life
has a way of convincing you that you can’t do what you’re
already doing. But that’s not my assignment, I want to focus
on what happened when he started sinking! Because I feel
like I got about fifteen folk in here, who have been sinking! I
feel like I got some people in here who have fallen and
can’t get up!
Here they are in the midst of the water, in the midst of a
storm. And He’s fixed it so that they can’t go back! Ain’t it
just like God to put you in the middle of a situation that you
can’t back out of? I don’t know about you, but He’s put me
out there where I couldn’t go back. He shut the door
behind me. And he says you’re going to have to learn some
new behavior because the old one ain’t no good no more.
You gone have to define yourself in light of where you’re
going and not in light of where you coming from. Because
I’m fixing it so that this storm gone catch you in the middle.
I have been there where I said, I wish I didn’t start out on this
journey. Because If I hadn’t started this thing, maybe I
wouldn’t be sinking right now. But God said I got you where
I want you, and you will see this to the end!
I’m talking to somebody who’s committed to some
relationships where you’ve been too much in to walk away!
You can’t get that time back, you’ve got to see it to the
end! Give somebody high five, say I’m too far out to turn
around now! I got to see it to the end! I got to go all the
way with this one! I may be sinking, but I know who to call
on!

8. If the Lord don’t bring me out now, I’ll never make it! If the
Lord don’t turn it around, I won’t come out
My life is so messed up and my mind is so gone, that I can’t
even identify that the next thing coming is Jesus! I’ve gotten
used to so much trouble. Shake somebody’s hand and say
the next person in your life ain’t coming from the devil, this is
Jesus, sending somebody to fix what’s broken. I know you’re
nervous but don’t be afraid, it is I, through the holy ghost, I
know you’re nervous, but I told you weeping may endure
for a night but joy is coming in the morning!
I came to tell somebody, that even when you’re sinking,
that the Love of God, it won’t let you drown! Slap
somebody high five, and say Love Lifted Me! [GO CRAZY]
I was sinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore,
Very deeply stained within, sinking to rise no more,
But the Master of the sea, heard my despairing cry,
From the waters lifted me, now safe am I.
Love lifted me, love lifted me, when nothing else could help
love lifted me.