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[ Music ] Well, now it's amazing. It's amazing how the Lord grew by. It's just amazing.

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It's amazing how the Lord grew by. Now it's amazing. It's amazing how the Lord grew by. It's just amazing.

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It's amazing how the Lord grew by. Now he hears me. He hears me every time I call. He holds my hand.

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Holds my hand. ♪ When the season comes ♪ ♪ It's just amazing ♪ ♪ It's amazing how the Lord grows by ♪

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♪ And He's always by my side ♪ ♪ Well, now it's amazing ♪ ♪ It's amazing how the Lord grows by ♪ ♪ It's just amazing ♪

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♪ It's amazing how the Lord grows by ♪ ♪ Now it's amazing ♪ ♪ It's amazing how the Lord ♪ [ Music ]

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[ Music ] ♪ When I'm in the dark sea ♪ ♪ When I'm torn or in the distance ♪ ♪ When the ship is easy to leave ♪

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♪ When I'm strong or happy ♪ [ Music ] [Chanting] [chanting]

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(singing in foreign language) [Music] (singing) (singing)

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[Music] ♪ Oh, Lord ♪ ♪ I have loved ♪ ♪ But every day ♪

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♪ I knew ♪ ♪ This day would be ♪ ♪ Oh, the day ♪ ♪ For our embassy ♪

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♪ We pray for us all over here ♪ ♪ May we raise ♪ ♪ Dear thanks for all the years ♪ ♪ Come, oh come ♪

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♪ And praise his name ♪ ♪ In the pond ♪ ♪ Touch me and endure ♪ ♪ Be your truth ♪

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♪ And talk to me ♪ ♪ As the maiden ♪ ♪ In the water ♪ ♪ As the maiden ♪

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♪ In the water ♪ ♪ There's no greater ♪ ♪ Than the water ♪ ♪ Get on board ♪

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♪ Get on board ♪ [MUSIC PLAYING] [ Music ] (chanting)

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[ Music ] You may be seated. Let us pray. Speak to our hearts, O God.

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Grant that we may have listening ears. May we be not only hearers of the word, but doers also. Amen. Straightway, Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship and go before him unto

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the other side, while he sent the multitudes away." The subject of the message, "Sailing Through the Storm." through the storm. About three weeks ago our church family was engaged in prayer and Bible study and the message came as we heard the phone ring and the

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a messenger appeared saying that there was a rainstorm in Georgetown on its way to Austin. And of course this notice was given so that persons who wanted to get home could hurry home.

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I said at the time that it may be that the safest place in such a time as this is where we are. are. The experience that every individual has in this life, sooner or later, is that of being in a storm. And most of the experiences we have in early life as well as in later life, we find in

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connection with them, a storm. For some time I preached a sermon series based on Parables of Jesus stories Jesus told After listening to a number of those sermons one lady said that

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She heard these parables That she needs a miracle And many of us find ourselves today needing a miracle in our lives. And this particular experience of Jesus with his

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disciples is the experience of a miracle. We've had our share of storms. There was a valedictorian, which was very when I was younger. Don't know why there's no sun up in the sky, stormy weather. So we've had some stormy weather. Clouds cover the brilliant sunlight that dazzled us with delight.

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torrents of rain fall on us, darkness descends, and we cannot see where we are. Neither can we determine the best way to go. we are in a storm. Storms are sure to come, storms of sickness, storms of disease, storms of disappointment, storms of

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depression and death. Storms are sure to come. They don't need any invitation to invade our They just show up. They appear on the scene. We suddenly find ourselves facing a storm.

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And storms are provided by the permissive will of God. We cannot run away from storms. Jonah tried that. He got in a went in a different direction and got with a different group altogether, but the storm caught up with him. So we have our storms. Our world has its storms. We have our weapons of destruction, but we are afraid to use them.

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We have accumulated treasures of vast wealth, but they are established on fraud and deception. We are in a storm. When we learn how to live in a storm,

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we discover that there are miracles related to the storms of life all around us. God is waiting to perform a miracle in our lives. There was a storm during this particular period. Herod was flinching his muscles and venting his vengeance.

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He had the head of John the Baptist cut off and brought to him on a platter. It was stormy weather. Hungry multitudes followed Jesus all day.

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They had no food, they were in the wilderness, there were no supermarkets there, they were in the wilderness, they were in need of a miracle,

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they were facing a storm. Jesus took a brief vacation from them in the hills of Galilee. There he

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communed with the Heavenly Father. Time passed, it grew late. Jesus was alone. The mission of the disciples was to go to the other side, this Jesus had said to them before he

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left. And that's our mission, folks to go to the other side from this side to the other side now the boat in which the disciples

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were riding was far out into the water at this time possibly they had to pass the point of turning back. It is said that when planes are flying that they

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have a certain point that they reach and that point is the point where there is no turning back. Well they've gotten a great distance from the seashore. They they had reached the point of no return. The sailors were battling with headwinds.

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And many of us, even now, may find ourselves battling with headwinds. We try to go forward, and it seems that there are forces pushing us back

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holding us, keeping us from going forward, battling with the headwinds. The undercurrents that we have to face if making this journey to the other side. strong, powerful undercurrents keep us from going forward. And so Matthew says in his account here that this was at a time that is called

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the last watch of the night and that's a pretty difficult time. Have you ever worked on a night shift? If you worked on a night shift you know how hard it is the last watch from three to six in the morning. That's the sleepiest time. If you can make it you know past three o'clock that period if you can make it during

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then then you're ready for the bright daylight. This was the last watch so this last watch has eschatological significance because it's the last. Jesus represents the last. It is he who is looked upon and called the eschatological hero because he is able to do miraculous things in the last, in the last watch of

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of the night. So here they are in this last watch and the sailors have been battling the waters. Many of us find ourselves battling the waters, the waters of disappointment, the waters of despair, the waters of sickness, all of these waters we find ourselves battling against the waters and the headwaters as well as

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the undercurrents against us as we try to make this journey to the other side this journey that we are on from here to the other side from here to eternity we we may say, is not a journey that may be called a cruise. This is not some cruise on the sea under a moonlit sky.

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It's a journey with a great deal of opposition, not with discard that one has to face. Opposition, yes, obstacles, difficulties, that's life. So never throw up your arms when these things come.

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If you are on the sea, seeking to go from this side to the other side, you've got some battles to fight. You've got to fight against the headwaters, fight against the undercurrents.

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You've got some battles. All of us has some battles to fight. So while they are battling, while they're dealing with all of these forces,

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the cross currents, the head waters and the like, while they're dealing with all of those things, Jesus comes. Isn't that wonderful?

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That when you have battles to fight, when you find yourself against overwhelming forces of opposition, that all of a sudden, Jesus comes. You don't always have to invite him.

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He just comes. He comes because he is concerned about his disciples. He's concerned about his servants. And he shows up on the scene.

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And they're out there on the tumultuous sea. You know, the ancients had a certain belief about the sea, and they indicated this on their maps. There were certain places that they weren't too sure about when

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they were making those maps in ancient times. And so they would put these words here, here be demons. And they thought of the waters as containing demons.

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And in the concept which we have in the beginning of the Bible, this chaos, this opposition, this disorder represents the demons of the deep.

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So we've got the demons of the deep to deal with. This is not fantasy, this is reality. There are demons of the deep that we must deal with. So Jesus appears out here on the raging sea

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where the demons of the deep are located And the disciples are disturbed about their future. Jesus appears suddenly. And as he does so,

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he comes walking on the water. In other words, he comes under impossible circumstances. That's the way he comes, many times, under impossible circumstances.

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Nobody expected to find right out in the midst of the sea walking. That's an impossibility, human impossibility. But Jesus is the impossible possibility. He's able to do the impossible.

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And He comes to us under impossible circumstances. He shows up walking on the water. Now the water ordinarily is expected to take you down. You'll be out there in the midst of the sea.

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But here he is on top of the water. And he's walking. Methinks he just may be striding along on the water. and he's doing it so gracefully that when the disciples see him they look and

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they say, "Is this real? Is this Jesus here walking out here where we are on these tumultuous seas and they cried saying this must be a ghost, this must not be reality, it must be a ghost. Sounds more like fantasy and fiction than reality. Out here walking on the water, on top of the water, those waters that are designed

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to take us under. He's on top walking. Not only is he on top, some people are on top for a while, but they soon go down. But he's on top and he stays on top and he's walking on top of the water. And do you think that it must be a ghost. Well, what this teaches us is that Jesus triumphs over the waters. He triumphs over the darkness in our lives. He triumphs over the disorder

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in our lives. Jesus triumphs over the demonic forces that would take us under. Jesus triumphs over the waters. He walks on the waters. My good friend Reverend Claude Black says that he's walking on the water and he just is so possessed of strength that he stomps the waters. That's Jesus, the power of our

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Savior as he walks on the waters. So he comes to us through headwinds that are rough. He comes to us in the last watch of the night. Time's almost out for the night and he comes. That's so wonderful. He comes. He may not come when you expect him. They may have expected him to be with them as they left the

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seashore and all of that and everything was in order. They checked everything on the ship and this is the time for Jesus to come. No, he comes in a storm. Comes in a storm. When the storm of life is raging, he comes. Shows up. Your heart is heaven and you're fearful and you wonder how in the world you're gonna get through

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it Jesus shows up. He comes. He comes. Well he talks to his disciples and you can hear with him, "Jesus, is this you? We're out here in these waters in the midst of the sea." And Jesus says, "It is I." Yes, this is Jesus out here where you are. And that's really what God sent us to do, to be with us. That's what the name Emmanuel means, God with us

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wherever we are, he's there. He's there. And so Jesus says, be of good cheer. Be of good cheer.

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Don't be hysterical. Take heart. Be at peace with yourself. I am here.

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Be of good cheer. Well, it's a wonderful thing. look at this story it's wonderful Jesus left them and went up into the hills and was in prayer up there in the hills and they got in trouble down here in the

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Sea of Galilee and Jesus left the hills and came down to where they were and walked on the water to get to the boat in which they were riding. He did all of that to reach his disciples. So some of us can remember times when we've been with Jesus on the mountain. Some of us can remember when we were with him on

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the level places when he fed the multitude when he blessed us with bounty when we didn't have anything we can remember that. And some of us can remember how Jesus has come to us in the storm when the winds were raging and the waves were angry how Jesus came and spoke peace to our souls we can we can

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remember that. So here he is, Peter cries out, "Lord, if this is you, tell me to come to you." In other words, he believes in the word of the Savior and whatever the Savior says, "If this is you, bid me come to you." And Jesus says, "Just come, come on." And Peter gets out of the boat and begins to walk on the water. It's a miracle for Peter.

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God gives all of us an opportunity for a miracle if we have the faith as the choir sang about a few moments ago. If we have the faith, God's got the miracle. Got it all ready prepared and we have the faith. We've got the miracle for our lives.

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So he said, "Come on, come on." And he steps out and he does pretty well for a while. And as he looks on Jesus, as he looks into the eyes of the Master, As his faith is linked to the master, he looks steadfastly, he walks on the water

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and then when he takes his eyes off Jesus, he begins to sing. He begins to sing. That's the way it is in our lives, the way it is in our homes. We take our eyes off Jesus, we begin to sing. No matter how expensive may be the wedding,

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and how expensive may be the home that you have prepared, and how wonderful may be the neighborhood in which you live, when you take your eyes off Jesus, we begin to sink.

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And we find ourselves going down, down, down. We begin to sink. when we take our eyes off Jesus. And beginning to sink, Peter cries out,

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"Lord, save me." Just three words. That's all. "Lord, save me." Three words. That's a powerful prayer.

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That's all you need. Anytime you hear the gospel, anytime you want to be rightly related to Christ and to the God, the Father, Lord, save him." And Jesus reaches out and catches him,

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lifts him out of the water and saves him. That's a miracle. If want a miracle, Jesus is the person for that miracle, if you really want a miracle. Well, I know that there's some of us sinking, some of us out there on the deep deep sea, Jesus is prepared to save us.

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We may walk on the water for a while, but not long without committing ourselves to Jesus Christ. So I know something about that. That's personal with me.

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I know something about that. I never learned to swim. And I always tried from time to time, but I really never learned to swim.

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But I was out there, you know, I'd been wading around in the pool, like a lot of people in church, you wade around in the pool.

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But I got out there in the deep water, and there was nobody right around me. And I went down and I came up, went down and I said to myself, "This is it." And then all of

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a sudden there was the lifeguard who came seemingly from nowhere and grabbed me. He said, "Are you all right?" I said, "Yeah, I was all right then." "Are you all right?" Well, that's what Jesus does for us. That lifeguard that God sent from

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heaven that life God from the hills of Galilee comes where we are and takes us by the hand and lifts us up. He saves us. So I could really sing that. I was thinking. I can really sing that. I was thinking deep in sin, far from the peaceful shore. very deeply stained within, seeking to rise no more. But, oh yes, but, but hallelujah, but,

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but the master of the sea heard my despairing cry and from the waters lifted me. Now safe am I. Now then Jesus takes them all to the ship.

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They take the ship, Peter is in the ship now, and they come on to the seashore. And they can rest in the joy of the Lord. Now when you've had an experience like that,

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it changes your life. When you've had an experience like that. Makes you a new creature. Causes you to grow in the likeness of the eternal.

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So as we come to this point, we extend the invitation of the church. There may be someone here who wants to unite with the church. Maybe you've drifted off, but you need to come back.

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And we ask you to come. Don't be afraid to stand up. Jesus came down from the mountaintop for us. Come.

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It's an open door he sets before us. Door of the church is open. Door of the church is open. Come.

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Come. Come. Come. Precious Lord, take my hand

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Lead me on, let me stand [MUSIC] ♪ I am weak ♪ ♪ I am worn ♪

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♪ Through the storm ♪ ♪ Through the night ♪ ♪ Lead me on ♪ To the light, take my hand.

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Precious Lord, lead me home. [MUSIC] [Music] [Music]

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[Music] [MUSIC] [ Music ] When my way grows drear, precious Lord, linger near.

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When my life is all most gone, if my cry ever gone, ♪ Lead me on ♪ ♪ Lest I fall ♪ ♪ Take my hand ♪

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♪ Precious Lord ♪ ♪ Lead me on ♪ Would you all just hum that? (dramatic music)

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(dramatic music) [MUSIC] (dramatic music) [music]

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(dramatic music) [music] (dramatic music) [MUSIC PLAYING]

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[MUSIC PLAYING] [MUSIC PLAYING] [music] [Music]

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[ Music ] Those who are celebrating wedding anniversaries and birthdays may join us here at the rear of the sanctuary. Would you come now? Lord, we thank you that you come to us in the deep waters of life,

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When we're surrounded by darkness, when we contend against headwaters and undercurrents, we thank you that you come from the mountains to be with us in a stormy sea.

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The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord calls his face to shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon you and give you peace now and forevermore. Amen. Amen.

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[ Music ] [BLANK_AUDIO]