(Matthew 14:22-33)

22Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. 25And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. 26But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, "It is a ghost!" and they cried out in fear. 27But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, "Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid." 28And Peter answered him, "Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water." 29He said, "Come." So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, "Lord, save me." 31Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, "O you of little faith, why did you doubt?" 32And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God."

Story: There was once a farmer who wanted to impress his hunting buddies. So he went out and bought the smartest, most expensive hunting dog he could find. He trained this dog to do things no other dog on earth could do---impossible feats that would surely amaze anyone. Then he invited his neighbors to go duck hunting with him. After a long patient wait in the boat a group of ducks flew over and the hunters were able to shoot a few of them down. Several ducks fell in the water. The farmer looked at the dog and said, "Go get 'em!" The dog leaped out of the boat, walked on the water, and picked up a bird and returned to the boat. As soon as he dropped the duck in the boat he trotted off across the water again and grabbed another duck and brought it back to the boat. The owner kind of swelled up with pride as his dog walked across the water and retrieved each of the birds one by one. Kind of smugly, he looked at one of his buddies and asked, "Do you notice anything unusual about my dog?" One of them sat back and rubbed his chin and thought about it for a little while and finally said, "Yeah, come to think of it, I do! That stupid dog doesn't know how to swim does he?"
(Taken from www.cc-vw.org/sermons/matthew14.htm)

In the passage for this week Peter loses his nerve while walking across the water towards Jesus in a violent storm at the dead of night - 3am in the morning (Matthew 14:22-33). The disciples were struggling to prevent the boat from capsizing. Peter began to sink and was pulled to safety by Jesus. Peter's courage in trying to walk on the water gave him the chance to experience what I call the freedom of 'failure'. It is not 'failure' that shapes us but the way we chose to respond. 'Failure' gives us the opportunity to experiment with different ways of trying something. It is a chance to learn and to draw strength from other people. When Thomas Edison was branded a 'failure' in his attempt to create a light bulb, he is alleged to have said "I have not failed. I've just found 1,000 ways that don't work". Before James Dyson invented his perfect vacuum cleaner, he went through 5,127 prototypes. For us, the emotional logic of forgiveness is that we never 'fail' but have extra opportunities to get things right.

I would like you to treat the boat as an analogy for a challenge that you may be facing in your life. Taking on that challenge is your equivalent of getting out of the boat.

1. If you accept the challenge then you will face storms (14:22-24) - When you are serving God, and trying to be obedient to Christ, you will have to face storms. I'm not talking about physical storms that are common in nature, but the storms of trials and difficulty. Even sitting here today, you may be going through a storm. Maybe it's money problems, or problems in a relationship. You might be having family problems, or problems at your job or school. We all have storms in life. Anyone who tells you Christianity is smooth sailing doesn't understand what the Bible teaches about serving the Lord. 2 Tim. 3:12 says, "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted." Remember, the disciples were in a storm because they were trying to be obedient to Christ.

2. If you accept the challenge then you will recognize God's presence (14:25-28)
Divinely appointed defining moments that come into all of our lives.

• the water is where Jesus is. The water may be dark, wet, and dangerous. But Jesus is not in the boat. The main reason Peter got out of the boat is that he wanted to be where Jesus was. The call to get out of the boat involves crisis, opportunity, often failure, generally fear and sometimes suffering. It is always a call with a task too big for us. But there is no other way to grow closer to God!
• Recognise God's presence in the storms. Jesus wanted to be alone to pray, so they were sent ahead without him. To them it was no big deal - they used boats for fishing on a daily basis. But this huge storm blew in - bigger than most storms.. what was Jesus up to, walking around on the lake at 3:00 am in the morning?.
• Matthew wants his readers to know that Jesus often comes when least expected - 3:00 a.m., in the middle of a storm.human extremity is a frequent meeting place with God. These are those And. if you're not looking for him, you just might miss him.

• Peter blurted out to the water walker, "if it is you, command me to come to you on the water ." (Matthew 14:28)1 Why does Matthew include this detail? Why doesn't Peter just plunge into the water? I think it's for a very important reason. This is not just a story about risk taking; it is primarily a story about obedience.Courage alone is not enough; it must be accompanied by wisdom and discernment. Matthew is not just glorifying risk-taking. This is not a story about extreme sports. Its about extreme discipleship!
• what's your boat? your boat is whatever represents safety and security to you apart from God himself. your boat is whatever you are tempted to put your trust in, especially when life gets a little stormy. your boat is whatever keeps you so comfortable that you don't want to give it up even if it's keeping you from joining Jesus on the waves. your boat is whatever pulls you away from the high adventure of extreme discipleship.
• Do you want to know what your boat is? Your fear will tell you. Just ask yourself this: what is it that most produces fear in me - especially when i think of leaving it behind and stepping out in faith? Vocation? Relationship? Successes? Failures? What area(s) in your life are shrinking back from fully and courageously trusting God? Fear will tell you what your boat is. Leaving it may be the hardest thing you ever do. But if you want to walk on the water, you've got to get out of the boat!

• Peter's focus had shifted from Jesus to the storm. We are all the same. We start something filled with hope - then reality sets in. Setbacks. Opposition. Unexpected obstacles. You see the wind. It should be expected. The world's a pretty stormy place. But somehow trouble still has the power to catch us be surprise. Because of the wind - some people decide to never leave the boat. If you get out of the boat, you will face the wind and the storms out there. But you should know. there is no guarantee that life in the boat is going to be any safer.