Sermon: 30 December 2012

1. Some where in the middle
Where we are & where we want to be
There is the place that we stand and the place where we feel this is where I am.
It’s the place were Jesus has placed us and the place where we see our selves.
I am standing between
• The hot & the cold
• The New me & the old me
• Who I am now & who I am used to be
• The wrong & the right
• The darkness & the light
• Who I was & who you made me to be
• The heart & the hands
• My faith & my plans
• The safety my boat & the crashing waves
• The whisper & the roars
• The Altar & the door
• Being content & always wanting more
• The God we want You to be and the God who you are
God you placed me there, but when I look at Jesus, the great men of God and those sitting around
us.
When I listen to what Jesus are doing for others and through others.
I feel that I am stuck somewhere in the middle and actually, not fitting in anywhere.
Between the Altar & the door
Isn’t it funny.
You hear this awesome message.
You get this feeling of faith that rises inside of you.
You know exactly what is right and what is wrong. There is no grey area.
Then somewhere between the altar & door
Then somewhere between the safety of the boat and the crashing waves.
We fail.
On who’s faith did dit you walk out by the door?
Mat 14:26-32 NKJV [26] And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled,
saying, "It is a ghost!" And they cried out for fear. [27] But immediately Jesus spoke to them,
saying, "Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid." [28] And Peter answered Him and said, "Lord,
if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." [29] So He said, "Come." And when Peter
had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus.
[30] But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried
out, saying, "Lord, save me!" [31] And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him,
and said to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" [32] And when they got into the boat,
the wind ceased.
Just like Peter we hear God’s instruction to us and we obey this instruction.
Just to find ourselves in a difficult situation.
Jesus came walking on the water. By looking at Him it didn’t look hard at all.
So Peter joined Him on the water, but the moment Peter saw the storm and the waves he wasn’t
so sure any more that he will make it and he sank.
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2. The moment we climb out of the boat we will know on whose faith are we standing.
Are we standing on our own faith or some one else’s faith.
The moment Peter climbed out of the boat, he walked on Jesus’ faith, because when the test for
his faith came he sank.
I can’t go out of that door basing my stand on some one else faith.
I need to take my own faith and stand.
Without my own personal faith in Jesus Christ, I will always feel stuck some where in the middle.
Jam 1:6 NKJV [6] But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of
the sea driven and tossed by the wind.
How to get your own faith
How do I move from building my life on some one else faith to my own personal faith in Jesus?
Where is your heart?
Mat 15:8 NKJV 'THESE PEOPLE DRAW NEAR TO ME WITH THEIR MOUTH, AND HONOR ME
WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR FROM ME.
It starts with where is in my heart?
Is my Christianity a religion or a relationship with the one and only living God.
Do I serve God with my lips or do I serve Him from my heart?
How serious are you really about God?
Draw near to God
Jam 4:8 NKJV Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners;
and purify your hearts, you double-minded.
God says, the moment you draw near to Me I will draw near to you.
I need to take my heart and entrust it to Him.
Deliberately make an effort to connect with God.
Make a verbal invitation to God: Lord I am setting this time aside. Come and meet with me.
It’s not about the deeds
Heb 7:19 NKJV for the law made nothing perfect; on the other hand, there is the bringing in of a
better hope, through which we draw near to God.
Don’t fool yourself we can’t do works of the law and expect out faith to grow.
Hope come from the place where we draw close to Jesus.
Commitment
Sing song
Somewhere in the middle.
Prayer
Lord Jesus no longer do I want to build my life based on somebody else’s faith.
I want to build my personal faith on You.
Lord Jesus, I want to see my own personal faith grow.
No longer do I want to feel that I am standing somewhere in the middle.
I want to stand and stand firm and even the storms of life will no longer shake me.
In the name of Jesus.
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