Hey, thank you, Mission Grove and thank you for inviting me in uh to your family this morning. Uh As Pastor John said, we are in that process, kind of that initial core development process. And so we moved out about a year ago, uh this past January and have been on the ground, actively making friends, meeting neighbors, figuring out rhythms. Uh Phoenix is a little bit different than Illinois, uh not just the weather. Um And so, you know, during that time, we've seen an increase in the growth within our community uh by God's grace. This past weekend, we had 70 in attendance. Uh And we've been going for 12 weeks. So praise God. He is doing a work in and through. So let me go ahead and pray for us uh and give you a little bit of a taste of where we're going today this morning. Uh I wanna look at Matthew 14 and, and what I wanna examine is I wanna examine that very famous passage where Peter walks on the water with Jesus. Now, one of the things we're gonna pull out from that passage is, is kind of where do our eyes go when the storms of life hit, right? Where do our eyes go? And the big idea, so to speak, that I'm gonna leave us with is where our eyes look, determines where we go. And so we're gonna look at Peter, we're gonna examine the story. Probably see ourselves in that this morning. Well, let me go ahead and pray for us and we'll jump on in father. Thank you for today. Thank you for John. And the work that's evident here at Mission Grove. Thank you for the multitude of men and women who come here and serve so faithfully to make this event uh week in and week out. Something that glorifies you and makes your name great. Uh Jesus, we are grateful as we enter this Christmas season to think of you to remember your first advent when you came in fulfillment of the promise Jesus, meet us this morning in your word. Teach us from your word that we may glorify you in our lives. We ask this in your name. Amen. So I, I took a motorcycle riding course uh several years back and I was uh I just purchased a bike and I was like, oh, I probably should take the course. Uh And so I did those little out of order and when I was in the course, the they're doing a whole bunch of things and, and part of what they're trying to ensure and make sure you understand is when you ride a motorcycle, people want to murder you. Like that's just, you have to have that mindset. Ok. When you're on the road, always constantly defensive. The one of the things they'll teach though is they'll teach that where your eyes are looking is where your bike is going to go. And so when you're driving a car and you have four wheels, you'll turn your steering wheel and that kind of moves your wheels left to right on a motorcycle. There is no wheel. You have handlebars and you'll push forward or you'll push uh, rear board. And that is gonna be what kind of tilts your wheel and then guess what, you've actually got to tilt in the direction you're turning. So it's a little bit different of the mechanic, but the biggest change is that it's not just about tilting, it's also about where your eyes are looking, see when we were going through the course. Part of the course is intended to teach us what we need to do. Part of the course is actually telling us what happens if we don't listen. Right. And so they would show pictures of grisly accidents right? Where, what happens is a lot of young guys in particular wanna be on two wheels, wanna ride, wanna go crazy and they'll get in fatal accidents within the 1st 6 to 8 months of riding. And most of the time it happens when they're merging onto a highway scenario because guess what, you're coming on, on, on and you know what's riding right alongside you in this interstate, a massive 18 wheel truck, right? And so when you see that thing coming, the last thing you wanna do is hit it, but guess what, you're looking at the truck and so guess where your bike's gonna go the truck. And so they drilled it in our heads where your eyes are looking is where your motorcycle is going to go. And it's true when you make a turn, you're not looking straight ahead, you're looking at where you want your bike to be every time because the moment you get your eyes off of that, your motorcycle is gonna go where you're looking. And isn't that us in so many areas of life? It's not just riding a motorcycle. Maybe many of you haven't in life where our eyes are looking tend to be where we go. And sometimes that could be an issue with health. Sometimes that can be an issue in family. Sometimes that can be an issue with a loved one, a sibling, maybe it's money, but whatever that problem may be, it's really hard and really tempting to just wanna look at it. But if you're in my motorcycle class, if you're like me, that's often the worst thing to do this morning, we're gonna be talking about Peter and we're gonna talk about where his eyes were. The moment he was asked to step out of the boat. And we're to look at what happened to his eyes when he stepped on the boat and stepped onto the water versus where his eyes were when he began to sink. And I think you're gonna see the same principle apply where you look, determines where you go. But here's the question I have for you this morning. Where do you look when the storms of life come? Where do you have your eyes? When the storms of life come? Matthew 1422 to 33. Immediately he 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. And when the 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. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified and said, it's a ghost and they cried out in fear. Ok? Many of you have heard this story. I'm just gonna pull out a few things from it as we look at this text together. Verses 22 it says immediately he made the disciples get out and onto the boat. What happened just before the immediately you might have heard of this miracle. It's one of jesus' most famous is when he fed the 5000, now feeding of the 5000. That was actually 5000 men. And so when you look at women and Children added to that total, you're talking somewhere in the ballpark of 15 to 30,000 people. That's what the disciples had just seen. That's what the disciples had just walked from. That's where the disciples were at. Some might say they were riding the mountain top high with Jesus. We can do whatever we want. He just fed people, right? They're feeling pretty assured. And then he says, get in the boat and then he says, go to the other side and the disciples have no idea what's about to happen. But Jesus does interesting. Second thing that we see here, it is found in verse 25. It says in the fourth watch. Do you know what the fourth watch is? It's that time period in Rome. They would say that's between three and 6 a.m. and three A six AM is usually the worst time in life. Uh If you're a parent here, you understand, that's precisely when the kids decide to wake up and that means your day is wrecked. Amen. That's me today. We've got four of them and it's like a symphony at 5 a.m. Mm So here's the, the second thing that we're seeing is these guys are tired, so they're alone. They're tired in verse 26. It says when the disciples saw they were terrified. Now we have our introduction of fear. What the author of the story is describing is how most scenarios, unexpected storms in life, how they come to be. First, we may be coming from a mountain top high and we're not expecting it. That's the first thing. Second, you're likely going to be tired, beaten down a little bit and less than capable of mustering your full strength. And third, you're gonna be introduced to a fear that you do not know how to handle storms in life are often unexpected and they often contain these three very dangerous ingredients. It comes when we're not prepared. Worse than that, we're tired and worse than that were terrified. Now, Jesus knew the disciples had no clue what was gonna happen. So let's take a look at how the disciples respond. We're gonna continue in verse 27. I want you to put yourself in the place of the disciple and I want you to put yourself in the place of the disciple thinking of since a time in your life. It could be right now where you have been in an unexpected trial because I think when we look at how they respond, we're gonna see a lot of ourselves in them. Verse 27 it says, but immediately Jesus spoke to them saying, take heart. It is a high, do not be afraid. We're gonna put a pin in that verse. And I'm gonna ask you to forget that verse for just a second because I think the disciples did not hear Jesus say that based on how they respond. Verse 28. And Peter answered him, Lord, if it is, you command me to come to you on the water. And Jesus said, come. And so Peter got out of the boat and he walked on the water and he came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and beginning to sink, he cried out, Lord, save me. And Jesus immediately reached his hand and took hold of him and sang 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 worshiped him saying, truly, you are the Son of God. This is our scenario, unexpected, tired, terrified. And what does Peter do in that moment? Verse 28 he does what most of us should do in those moments when we're overwhelmed with fear and we don't know how to handle it. We cry out. He cried out to Jesus. Peter did exactly what you and I should do in those moments crying out, Lord command something in my life. Control this moment. And Jesus responds, Jesus says, yes, take the step of faith. Jesus' response says, I on me, Peter, there's a work here that you don't understand quite yet, but it's gonna require you to get out of the boat. And so he does Peter in the boat in safety, takes a step onto the water but notice where his eyes are at. When he does this, Peter got out of the boat and walked and came to Jesus, he went where he was looking just like riding in the motorcycle, you're going to go wherever your eyes are looking at. Peter walks on water, looking at Jesus, his eyes are fixed upon his savior. He is terrified and tired and unexpected. But he's looking at Jesus then verse 30 happens. It reads when he saw the wind, which is a odd phrase. I've never seen the wind. I have seen the effects of it but we know what the authors, the waves are crashing, the wind is blowing and howling. He is in the midst of a storm. And Peter May I remind you as a fisherman, he's no fool when it comes to storms. He knows them. But in that moment, he's afraid he begins to sink. Did you catch where his eyes went? He begins to notice the waves around him, the wind around him, the crashing around him, the thunder, the lightning, the storm of life has gripped his heart and now his eyes are off of Jesus and they're on to the problem and he begins to sink storms in life. Often unexpected, but they're also sobering because they reveal where our eyes are looking. They reveal where our eyes are looking. Now, here's the thing. It'd be easiest for us to look at Peter and assume. Well, he should have just continued to look at Jesus. But may I ask you the same question? What happens? And where do you look when the storms of life come? Is it not easy to look at the issue? Is it not easy to look at the problem? Is it not easy to cast all of our expectation upon that which we, we cannot change even though we know it doesn't work, even though we know by staring at fear in its face. There's no good that comes of it. We like a motorcycle instructor told me sometimes get paralyzed by the fear and drive right into it hoping desperately to avoid it. And it might be easy to look at me this morning and think, well, what kind of trials have you gone through? And it's true. I haven't faced all of them, but I faced enough to where I got to the end of myself and still get to the end of myself. We've lost Children. We've gone through illnesses that could have claimed our life. We've had moments of intense fear where the desire to look at. The problem is extraordinarily real to the point of debilitating. And I'm saying there is a better way. But where do you look when the storms of life come? First? 27? I said we had a pin in it. Let's go ahead and take that pin out and let's come back to it. Verse 27 says this but immediately Jesus spoke to them saying take heart. It is, I do not be afraid, take heart. It is, I do not be afraid. Do you hear the voice of Jesus? Take heart? It is, I do not be afraid. This is our key first. This is what unlocks how you engage if you're going to engage. well, the storms of life because here's what's going to happen. Storms will come. Brothers and sisters in Christ following him is not the absence of storms following him means his presence doesn't leave you but you go through storms. We all go through storms and here's what he says, he says, take heart. It is, I do not be afraid, take heart. It is, I do not be afraid Jesus, when he sent them on the boat knew exactly what was going to happen and he let it, he knew exactly what waves preceded them and he let it, he knew he would be on the water and it would terrify them. And he used it. Why? Because that is the way our king grows us, not the absence of storms, but through them. Each of us in this room have been given this life for a purpose, each of us. And when we spend it running away from the storms, we miss, we miss the beauty of what our Lord is doing. He's using that storm to teach, to train, to cultivate, to disciple, to encourage because he has something for you. How do I know that? Because look at where Jesus's eyes were? Verse 31 he comments on Peter's faith. But but even before that verse 23 did you notice, did you notice where Jesus was? It says after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. And why would he do that? Why would Jesus come there by himself to pray? Because Jesus had the cross and it was only a few short years away. Jesus had the cross staring at him and he knew his end was coming and he knew the only way forward was if I spend time with the father, he was teaching his disciples, he was teaching them cause he knew he'd be, he would be going away and they would remain to continue on. So how do we respond when the storms of life hit? How do we respond? We must look to Jesus, we must look to Jesus and we must ask the Holy Spirit to increase our faith. Verse 31. When Jesus comments on Peter's faith, he says this, he, he, he looks at him and he says, oh, you of little faith, why did you doubt? And Jesus isn't just being a bully. He's not just being a mean teacher at this point. He is showing Peter Peter. I have something so much more valuable here for you. It's not just about feeding 5000. It's not just about the mountain tops. I am teaching and training you because one day you will lead, one day, your voice will be used to spark something that is still continuing to this day. On the day of Pentecost, over 3000 were saved and Peter rose up that day to give a sermon filled with the Holy Spirit. And I bet you what didn't leave his mind were moments like this when he stood on the water and he looked at Jesus, faith guides us through life, but it grows during the storms of life, faith guides us but it grows during the storms. Little faith does this. It looks at Jesus walks on, takes a step and then he looks down at the issue. There's still faith, there's still faith being lived out. It's just small, it's just little, it's just not fully moving him towards it. He looks at Jesus and then his eyes go to the issue. Strong faith looks at Jesus and moves forward. You want to look at Peter with strong faith, look at him after acts chapter two, boldness and not a boldness in his own strength. At that point, he's been emptied of his strength. At that point, the trials and storms of life have begun to have their impact on them. He's starting to move with the confidence that doesn't come from his ability but comes from knowing he's in jesus' hands. Wow. Men and women. I want you to hear that the Lord purposes your hardships for something far beyond just getting through them. And I'm not just talking about the simple ones. I'm talking about the ones that drag you all the way down. The Lord uses them and he equips you and he teaches you and he shows you his great love that he has not walked away even when it feels like everything else has. He hasn't none of this works without Jesus though. If you hear this this morning and you're hearing this and you're like, man, I need something to repurpose my problems. I need to, I need to, it's not self help. Get to the end of yourself. It's Jesus, it's by his name alone that any one of us is saved. It's by his blood that we're covered and brought into right union with God. And if you do it on your own terms and you don't have Jesus, you don't have hope. But if you get to the end of yourself, if you cry out, if you say Lord, I cannot stand on my own, I will sink. He is sure to catch you to hold you to draw you near Jesus knows and does not lose his own, but he has a purpose for you. Is that done with you? He's going to allow other storms to change you, to teach you to grow you to equip you. And this is the importance of being here in this body. This is the importance of gathering together as the body of believers because he's not gonna just use that storm in your life. He's gonna use the storm in your life to help somebody else's life. How do I know? Look at verse 23 there when he talks about praying and he talks about praying for the father and he knows that this boat's going, he knows that the disciples are going to be. Well, it doesn't end there. Does it now continuing on? In verse 32 it says when they got into the boat, the wind ceased and those in the boat, what they worshiped truly, you are the son of God. I think of the other 11 men on that boat. Do you think they ever forgot? The day Peter walked on water with Jesus, one of them would betray and one of them, even though they tried to kill him, they couldn't. John lived on Pat Mos until he died of old age. But the other 10 gave their life, gave their life because they saw what God did with Peter on that water through the sun. Jesus Spurgeon says this. He says, what a sight Jesus and Peter hand in hand walking upon the sea. We have just a short time on this earth and I'd hate for you to, to waste a moment of it at the Lord purpose. The good, the hard for his glory and come to him. Fly Lord. Use the good use, the bad use all of it. Use every drop of it. Don't let me miss one second of what you would have for me in this hardship. Don't let me miss one second. Don't just go through, don't just go through life but allow him to use and you will not be disappointed when you stand at the end or Neil at the end, we have a great king. We serve a great king hand in hand, walking upon the scene. Let me pray far away. May we be as Spurgeon speaks so clearly, men and women who do not forget those moments in life. When the water gives way, our eyes move off of you and you grab us, you meet us there, you meet us in the difficulty and you catch us and you strengthen us once again, calling us to a far deeper and far more profound trust and faith in you. Lord use those moments to shape us that we may be used by. You. Use those moments to cultivate within us. A character that stands firm in the face and the shadow of fear, not by our own strength. Goodbye. You meet the men and women in here who are gripped and terrified right now. Things outside of their control. May you comfort them, Jesus, would you comfort them? Would you press upon them? The tremendous love you have for them. And that, that love is secure, that love is not fleeting or fading and it is strong. And lord may we walk with you and an aunt? But the world may see there is a better hope and it is only found in you Jesus. Amen.