John K. Jenkins Sr - It Is Time to Get Out of The Boat

Allow me just a few moments to set the stage for this particular event that occurs in this passage of Scripture. Jesus has just finished feeding 5,000 people; as a matter of fact , he has supernaturally made provisions for them from five loaves of bread and two fish. He feeds 5,000 men, not counting women and children. He sends the disciples away; as a matter of fact, he tells them following this miracle, "Y'all get in the ship and go to the other side of the sea," and he tells them, "I'm going to catch up with you. I'll get to you; I will come and meet up with you later." But he sends them on the ship to go to the other side of the sea while he sends the multitudes away. The disciples get on board a ship and are now headed toward the other side of the sea. Jesus prays, and in the middle of the night, he finishes praying and walks to them on the water. He goes to them and catches up with them by virtue of him walking on the water-it 's a miracle. Jesus walks on the water, and the disciples see this figure coming to them on the water. They've never seen anything like this before; they've never seen anyone walk on water. Something is coming to them, and they' re afraid. They are scared, amen; they are afraid, and they cry out for fear. Now, that's an important point: these men are out in the middle of the night, they see something, and when men cry out for fear, you know they must really be afraid. Brothers, if you are out there with your friends and you see something coming, you don 't want to be the first one to holler out. Can I get an amen from the brothers somewhere? You don ' t want to be that first one. But in fact, they all cry out; they're afraid, and Jesus says, "It's me; don't be afraid." But Peter, fast-talking and quick to act, says, "If it's you, command me to come to you on the water." And in fact, Jesus says, "Come," and Peter walks on the water. That's the essence of the story, but I want to talk about it. I want to dive into this for just a few moments. I want to take a look at this moment in Peter 's life when he walks on the water. We often talk about Peter; we really sometimes give Peter a bad name, but he does some crazy things sometimes. I mean, when Jesus got arrested and he ' s surrounded by a crowd of people with weapons, he pulls out a sword and chops off a soldier's ear. He's a bit crazy, but he does some bold things at times. That temperament that Peter has often has him doing things we can celebrate, and one of those things is that he walks on the water. I want to talk about this today because I believe God is telling us and challenging me today to challenge somebody that you need to be like Peter and get out of the boat. Amen! Preach on, Pastor; I see it 's going to be a long message already. The Bible says, "The story goes," and here's the first thing; I just have two points today, and the first one is: I want to talk about the fact that Peter got out of the boat. I want to tell you today that for someone here, it' s time for you to get out of the boat. Someone here today is in the comfort level of their situation, their comfort level of life. You're comfortable in your normalcy, comfortable in your contentment, your regularity; you 're comfortable in your rebellion, your independence, your worry, your anxiety-you 're comfortable in something. But God is calling you today to come out of that comfort level. Jesus called Peter to come out of the boat. There they are, in the middle of the sea, in the middle of the night, in the middle of a storm, and Jesus says to Peter, "If it's you, bid me to come." Jesus says, "Come." Peter gets down out of the boat. I'm celebrating Peter because he did something that the other disciples didn 't do-he actually got out of the boat. He got out of the boat; he made a move. Somebody say, "He made a move." He didn't get thrown out of the boat; he didn't slip out of the boat; he didn't get pushed out of the boat. He had to climb out of the boat. He had to walk over to the edge of the ship, and he had to make an effort to put himself in a position to get in the water, and that 's what he did. I want to talk to you today because there's someone here today who has been walking through all of 2023 thinking , "Maybe I could," or, "Maybe I should." You've been pondering and wrestling with something that God has called you to do, but you keep talking about it, yet you haven't done anything about it. Somehow, God told me He has arrested me, woke me up in the middle of this morning, because I wanted to preach something else, and He told me to tell somebody in here today-whoever you are- that you have held up the rest of the congregation because you haven't done what you need to do.