Pastor Podcast - Matthew 14:22-33 - Trust Jesus!

 Each week Pastor Mark takes time to go deeper and talk about the week's message!  If you have questions you'd like him to answer or hear more about please send those in by texting us at the link in the show notes!

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A storm can feel like proof you’re alone, but Matthew 14 tells a different story. We sit with the moment Jesus sends the disciples out, the waves rise, and then Jesus comes walking on the sea. The miracle is unforgettable, but the deeper question is what it’s designed to produce in us: trust, clarity about who Jesus is, and worship that doesn’t depend on calm weather.

We reflect on Rob Wilton’s message and add our own takeaways: Jesus’ intention in sending them, Jesus’ intercession as he prays, and Jesus’ intervention when he shows up right in the middle of the chaos. We talk about why prayer is not a last resort, why peace is found in God’s presence, and how our comfort-obsessed habits can quietly weaken our faith. Then we zoom in on Peter’s step of faith, the distraction of the wind, and the simple, desperate cry that still matters: “Lord, save me.”

We also get practical about remembering God’s faithfulness with real-life “markers,” the kind that keep you grounded when fear, depression, or waiting returns. Finally, we look ahead to Pentecost and Acts 2, where one moment becomes a movement powered by the Holy Spirit. If this conversation helps you, subscribe, share it with a friend who’s in a storm, and leave a review so more people can find it.

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Intro music by Joey Blair

Transcript

Welcome And Weekend Recap

SPEAKER_01 0:15

Well, hey, Lifehouse family. Welcome to our Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, whenever you are watching video time and a unique week. Pastor Mark didn't preach this week. But he is here.

SPEAKER_00 0:26

We are big time FOMO. I did. I was missing out, but so blessed. I was watching online. I'm Nate texted me the Rob Wilton's time with the men on Forge, and I've watched one of those sessions already and was with you guys Sunday morning online worshiping. It was amazing. Yeah. Yeah. Very thankful for Rob Wilton's ministry and the preaching of the word that took place. And so let's talk a little bit more about it this morning.

SPEAKER_01 0:50

Just because we have a guest speaker doesn't mean we don't get Pastor Mark's thoughts. And I think this awesome weekend where we get Rob's thoughts, we get kind of your thoughts, we get some good perspective on a deep passage. You know, one we went through Matthew a couple years ago, but God's word always speaks in new ways, so it's always cool to just see new insights, new inspiration from various

Reading Jesus Walks On Water

SPEAKER_01 1:12

stories. And I think he tied it into where we are as a church, going into Acts. Matthew 14, Jesus walking on water. We can read it and hop into it. So verse 22 says, Immediately he, Jesus, 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 on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone. But the boat by this time was a long way 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. 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, Take heart, it is I, do not be afraid. And Peter answered him, Lord, if it is you, command me to come on the water. And he, Jesus, said, Come. So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 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, O you of little faith, why did you doubt? And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased, and those in the boat worshipped him, saying, Truly you are the Son of God. So

Miracles That Reveal Jesus

SPEAKER_01 2:38

story maybe we've heard before, maybe newer to some people, depending on where you are in your Bible study, but so deep when we really dig into this.

SPEAKER_00 2:46

Yeah, yeah. I mean, to me, like just knowing this testimony, this miracle, it was a miracle Peter walked on water, was a means towards a greater end. It wasn't just a moment for them to have, like, wow, that was cool, like an amusement park ride or, you know, an experience. It was a means of revelation, right? And also a means of equipping. Like this was a moment that Peter and the disciples could reflect on and remember when they met storms, right? You know, we're told in James, you know, when you meet trials of various kinds or storms, so to speak. It's not if, it's when. And they obviously, the disciples, experienced John 14, you know, in this world you will experience trials and tribulations, but take heart, I've overcome the world. Like they could go back to and reflect on who Jesus is, the Jesus that they serve and worship. But all of this was about revelation, revealing, and it even leads to that. Like ultimately, what they didn't do at the end was like, man, that was so cool. Like, let's do it again. It was they worshiped and acknowledged, truly you are the Son of God. And so it was a means that brought them to that end of revelation of faith. And this was a moment that they could reflect on throughout their lives, you know, when they struggled, when they meet other storms. I know in my own life I sometimes get frustrated with myself because I have short-term memory. Not really, not literally, I'm not being diagnosed with anything, but we do so easily forget who our God is and what he's done for us, the blessings, the ways he's revealed himself to us. And I wish that I would, you know, God has been so faithful, so provided for us, for me, for my family, protected me in so many profound ways, undeniable ways that it was him. And then I really, there's so many of those experiences in my life at this point for me to look back on. I I should never doubt, right? And I do. Like every time I get through something, I'm like, why did I even doubt? Like, why did I even like have that moment of fear? Because God has been faithful, right? He's the same yesterday, today, today, and forever. He will do what he has done. He will make a way. It may look differently, but he is faithful. And I think that that's one of the most, I guess, at the end of the day, that's the my takeaway from this passage, this text, you know, we should trust Jesus. He has proven himself trustworthy. You know, I don't know. How about you?

SPEAKER_01 5:11

I agree. And yeah, Rob brought out that our trust is something that we struggle with. And I mean, he even admitted himself, you know, shared a little bit of his story of going through trials and tribulations and even hitting low points and depression. And so we're all prone to that. You know, we should not, nobody should get a holier than now. I know you, me done the same thing, you know, and we've been talking about waiting. And so we get frustrated in the waiting, and but we're learning to trust. And so often Jesus shows up and it's in the middle of the storm, just building that trust. And he gives us those moments. You know, I know if you've ever done like life mapping or anything, sometimes it was those harder times that brought us closer to the street. We grow seeing him.

SPEAKER_00 5:53

No pain, no gain. And I even love what he brought out in the first point, right? The

Why Jesus Sends The Storm

SPEAKER_00 5:58

intention of Jesus. Like, like he intentionally sent them into the storm. Like, this wasn't just like, okay, this coincidentally happened or, you know, and he made the most of it. No, he sent them, like knowing this, like so the sovereignty of the Lord and the providence of the Lord and the intentionality, the precision, even of sending them out to accomplish something, not just for them, but you know, in them and through them. I mean, they were changed by this experience, impacted. And so it was profitable, even though it was scary and even though it was hard, it was a storm, you know, like it was ultimately good. And this is the these are the things that are tied to the Romans 8 28, right? All things work together for good for those who love God and who are called according to his purpose. God is teaching, sanctifying, disciplining, even correcting, you know, revealing through the storms of life. You know, I even can't help but think about in thinking about storms, Matthew 7, where Jesus says, like whoever hears my words and obeys them or does them will be like a wise man who built his house on a rock. And when the storms came and the wind blew and came and beat on that house, that how house was standing at the end because it had been founded on the rock. And really that's what we want to do as Christians. That's what we're called to do, we're equipped to do, to persevere, to continue standing even in and through quote-unquote proverbial storms of life, literal and proverbial.

SPEAKER_01 7:30

Oh, yeah. And especially in our culture, like we're so addicted to comfort and instant gratification, which I know you talked about. And so we have this mindset that if I'm doing if things are hard or difficult, either something's wrong or I'm just not happy with it. And I even just kind of think of in the gym in fitness, like my wife used to say, You love going to the gym. And I would say, No, I don't love going to the gym. It's hard, yeah, but I know I'm building something, I'm getting in better shape. You know, if you're going to build muscle, you know, it's going to require hard things. And too often our faith muscles are super weak because we don't want to go through hard things, deal with hard relationships, and we're expecting this comfy, cozy country club faith, but that doesn't grow our faith.

SPEAKER_00 8:18

Right. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, so so just the intentionality there. Like nothing is arbitrary, haphazard, coincidental in this. Jesus sent them, right, intentionally. And then

Jesus Prays And We Should Too

SPEAKER_00 8:30

the second thing is intercession. Like we see Jesus praying here. This isn't the only time we see Jesus as praying, but Jesus was a man of prayer, right? He went by himself, verse 23, to pray. Right? He was there alone, right? But you know, praying. Like he was interceding for the disciples, like for you know, seeking God. I who knows specifically what he was praying at that moment, but he inner prayer is powerful, prayer is profitable. Jesus prayed, we followed Jesus, we should pray.

SPEAKER_01 9:01

Even Jesus prayed. And Jesus was the Son of God, the Messiah, was praying, going into this, you know, going into the storms, going into the situation, praying through all of that. And I think that was the quote Rob gave us. You know, John Wesley said, prayer is where the action is. And Saturday for the men. Right. If you look at the armor of God, like the armor of God, but at the end of it, it's by prayer. You can't put on the armor, you can't be ready for the storms apart from prayer. So I think that point of Jesus modeling that and sometimes Jesus would do it, but we don't do it, right? You know, sometimes we go and then wait and then pray rather than pray, wait, go.

SPEAKER_00 9:42

Yeah, I I don't know if he had yet to watch the second session of the men's retreat, but knowing that he spoke on Ephesians 6 and the whole armor of God, one of the things that I am pretty impacted by from that text is so there's all these, you know, the helmet of salvation, the shield of faith, and the the belt of truth. So these defensive things, but the two offensive things, and I'm an offense guy, like I want to take back ground the enemy has stolen. I don't want to just be like like defense, like defending like the arrows being struck at, you know. But the word of God, the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God, and prayer. Like those are the two things that are spoken of in an offensive manner, right? And so Jesus prayed. Yeah, and so we should pray. Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 10:26

Interceded. Yeah. Follow his model. Yeah.

Peace Comes With His Presence

SPEAKER_01 10:29

The intervention. Jesus shows up. He doesn't send us into these storms and then good luck, have fun, like when we're truly trusting when we're truly waiting. Christ shows up. He's going to make his presence known in these difficult times. That's where I think a lot of our trust will come from.

SPEAKER_00 10:46

Yeah. I mean, yeah, one of the, and he actually mentioned this in the sermon, referring to the Great Commission and that end. You know, it's often left out, like not just make disciples, not just teach them to observe, baptize them, teach them to observe that thing I've commanded you, but I behold, I'm with you always, even to the end of the age. Like he is Emmanuel, God with us. He will never, no, never ever leave us or forsake us. He is the friend that sticks closer than a brother. He's with us, and he shows up in our time of need, you know, and and helps, you know. I mean, we have the Holy Spirit, the helper, the Spirit of God that that indwells our hearts, and we see Jesus show, you know. I will say that in my own experience of life, I've found that God is seldom early. I would love him to be early, but at the same time, he is never late, you know, and he showed up right on time for these guys, the disciples, in a beautiful way. And he does for us too.

SPEAKER_01 11:50

Yeah. And a great point I think Rob made to really highlight is the peace is in the presence. You know, his showing up is what brings peace. Storms are still going, right? I think from a timing standpoint in this passage, he could have just, oh, there's Jesus, boom, storm. But he's still in the story. The storm was still raging. Teach them, right? Like, are you going to trust me even while the storm's going up? In the storm. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I think that is good. Peter's

Get Out Of The Boat

SPEAKER_01 12:18

step of faith, right? Like, still a storm going on, but I'm going to step out. And of course we beat Peter up because he sank, but he's the only one that walked on water. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:27

He's the only one that got out of the boat. And I read a book one time that was titled, If you want to walk on water, you got to get out of the boat. And so often we just aren't willing to get out of the boat. We aren't willing to take that step of faith, you know. And I think that we need to be, it needs to be a spirit-led step. Like we don't want to just like name it, claim it, you know, step out. But but yeah, if you want to walk on water, you got to get out of the boat. Peter got out of the boat and thereby experienced the power of the Lord in an incredible way. He's the only one of the 12 disciples that got to walk on water, you know, and so they all missed out. You know, I talked about FOMO earlier. I don't want to miss out. So God give me the grace to take the steps of faith that I need so that I can essentially walk on water like Peter.

SPEAKER_01 13:12

But like you said, he asked the Lord first, you know, command me. He didn't just be like, oh, I'm going to hop out of the boat and do my own thing. You know, Jesus could have been like, nope, this isn't the right time. But he said, Lord, command me. And he asked, you know, Jesus proved this way. And he just was, hey, yeah, come on.

SPEAKER_00 13:31

And he said, come. So Peter got out of the boat and walked on water and came to Jesus. Yeah. When he saw the wind, he was afraid and he began to sink and cried out, Lord, you know, that's me. So oftentimes I'll take the step, you know, and then it's like, you know, I get distracted. I'm easily distracted, as are we, as you know, prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. You know, but we need to keep our eyes and our hearts and our minds fixed on the Lord, trusting the Lord. Give us faith to trust you.

SPEAKER_01 14:00

Praise God. Even when we're distracted, He'll still reach down. We can still constantly cry out. He's going to get us through. Even when we struggle, maybe everybody, we've, if you are a follower of Christ, you've taken that step of faith and we continue. But there'll be times in life where the storms will distract us. We keep trying to hone in. But I think that's what teaches us. Like Jesus says, you know, your little faith, why did you doubt? Learn from this, you know, and this is again that moment that would cast forward to remember this time when you did doubt and don't doubt.

SPEAKER_00 14:34

Right, exactly. Yeah. Yeah. And and even just I kind of chuckle when I think about my life. So often I feel like I'm sinking. You know, and just like, what do we need to do? We need to look to Jesus, trust Jesus, rely on Jesus, right, to to help us rise up, you know, and to help us endure and to walk on water. And so we see that here, you know, by example in Peter literally sinking, but Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him graciously, you know. I do think that there is a little bit of, you know, frustration here at this point. They've seen miracles, like they should know, they should remember. Like they're still processing, trying to figure out who this. And this really is kind of what I guess the nail in the coffin in regards to like them realizing because they declare, truly, you are the Son of God. They worshiped Jesus, they bowed down to Jesus at this point. And and we we should follow their example, you know.

SPEAKER_01 15:34

So that's the inspiration we should take inspiration from this moment. I think as we talk, fellow believers, we've all had those moments in some way. Sometimes, like you said, we forget about them. Yeah I remember my calling to ministry, my mentor Steve Faulkner, you know, when I was sharing like this moment, he said, Don't forget this moment. You know, don't forget what God is calling you to, because the world's gonna try to distract you, Satan's gonna try to make you doubt, you know, but don't forget this moment that's gonna carry you forward.

SPEAKER_00 16:05

I think, and that's the thing that's so helpful.

Remember God’s Past Faithfulness

SPEAKER_00 16:07

Like in in the Old Testament, all throughout the Testament, they had these you know Ebenezer stones and and these markers, these altars, and they were specifically intended to, you know, help people to recall to mind like what God had done and parting the waters or you know, for them, or or helping them defeat their enemies. And we should do practical things. I mean, anytime we look at the cross, like we should remember, right? And in our moments, like view our circumstances in light of or through the lens of the cross or the gospel, you know, God demonstrated his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died. Like God loves us, like he proved it. He showed us his love in that way when we didn't deserve it, while we were still sinners. And so, even just anytime we see a cross, like we should remember, right? And do practical things, journal, you know, because we do uh surround yourself with people. I just had a conversation with someone who's feeling overwhelming, overwhelmed, feeling like they're drowning, and they were kind of venting. And I was listening and praying, you know, like and I was able to, because I know them, speak truth and just say, hey, remember what God did in that situation and remember what God did in that situation, and you know, he who was faithful to you then will be faithful to you now, you know, and it was encouraging, thankfully, to that person. But we need to have those people in our lives that will be able to speak truth to us, and and we should be willing to say, hey, you know, remember when God, you know, did this or that, and he's the same. Like he doesn't change, he's immutable, and he it's not like you know, we're on we we have a honeymoon season of of following Jesus and then you know it changes. No, his love is perfect always for us, and so I think that that's this is a good reminder to remember.

SPEAKER_01 18:00

Yeah. He is, so we can't, right? Because who Christ is. No other religion or faith has a living Savior. We have a living Savior who is still active, we have the Holy Spirit. And he's a gonna find that. So just that inspiration, and I think that's you know, of course, the passage ends with those in the boat worship. You know, truly you are the Son of God. And that's where we should be, you know, coming through the storms. Yeah. When God gets us out, you know, it's easy to cry out in the middle of the storm, but when he shows up, because will you worship him? Will you follow him? Will you be devoted? We'll talk more about that in the coming weeks. You know, follow that invitation, you know, because Jesus is calling you not to just get you out. Too many people are like, change my circumstances, but he wants to change us, yeah, from the inside out, not

Worship As A Whole-Life Response

SPEAKER_01 18:50

the outside.

SPEAKER_00 18:50

Absolutely. And it's lifestyle worship. I mean, we talk about worship here at Lifehouse being all of us responding to all of him all the time. It's not something that's compartmentalized that takes place on Sunday mornings, or, you know, I'm sure that how did they worship? They were singing probably songs, praising him, you know. But ultimately, you know, when we interact with or when we have an encounter with the Lord, it's not about the experience. The experience is the means that should bring us to this end of worship, right? Worshiping and glorifying the one true God. You know, it should bring us literally to our knees, and we should bow. One day every knee will bow, but we should bow now. Like we should worship the Lord and acknowledge Jesus Christ as the Son of God, the one in whom salvation is found.

unknown 19:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 19:38

That's hugely inspirational this morning. We have a brother in our church who's in the hospital, has a surgery coming up here today, and I was just texting with him, and he's just praising God. You know, he's like, Yeah, this is rough, but I know where my faith is. I know who my savior is. And so he's just praising the Lord, even in the midst of going into some serious surgery. And you know, that's inspiring, you know. I think the inspiration that Christ should give us in those times, even though we struggle. We don't say that that is easy and flippant, but as we learn to trust, if that's that we truly trust, you said Romans 8, you know, that his plans are for our good. Then instead of God get me out of this, it's God, what do you want me to learn from this? Or who do you want me to impact?

SPEAKER_00 20:20

What do you want me to see learn? No, how do you want to change? Yeah, absolutely. And the storm may be great, but God is greater. Right. Even the winds and the waves obey him. You know, and that's what this passage reveals. He's sovereign over all, you know, all of our situations and circumstances, and we can trust him. We should trust him. He is worthy of our affection and our attention, but also our trust. He's reliable, he's able, mighty to say what's impossible with man is not impossible with God. And so Jesus is God, and so like we can trust him no matter what. Amen.

Pentecost Preview And Closing

SPEAKER_01 20:59

Well, we hope you were encouraged by the message from Rob this weekend. If you didn't get a chance to, you know, again, FOMO, if you haven't checked it out, go check it out. It was a very uh solid message on this passage, but we've got Pentecost coming this weekend. So I got another eye.

SPEAKER_00 21:14

So it was an inspiring message, right? So his intention, in ascension, intervention, inspiration. Well, I guess there's inspiration right there. Invitation. Yeah. So it was an inspiring message. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:25

So looking forward to Pentecost this weekend.

SPEAKER_00 21:27

And yeah, reviews for So one thing that's kind of, you know another moment, right? It's a moment, yeah. But not just for them to just, yeah, be entertained or say, oh, well, that was cool. Like what's next? It was a catalytic, a moment that caused a movement, right? And what's interesting, uniquely interesting, is that this Sunday, where I'm going to be preaching from Acts chapter 2, you know, Pentecost. Well, this is Pentecost Sunday, right? You know, and so it's kind of cool that it just kind of fell that way. So I'm excited. Yeah, Acts chapter 2, verses 1 through 13 this Sunday. Where the Holy Spirit, the promise of the Father, is fulfilled, and the Holy Spirit comes in an undeniable, profound way. And he comes suddenly, in a moment.

SPEAKER_01 22:14

Yeah. Another very important moment. Right. That, like you said, moments that lead to movements. Jesus is inviting us to everything changed after that moment. Right. Yeah, absolutely. So for Lifehouse family, so great to have you join us. Again, we hope to see you this Sunday as we look at some moments that are big in the movement that will move us into our future moments. So, Pastor Mark, thanks for taking the time with us. Thanks, Nate. We look forward to seeing you next time.