Morning Worship for Sunday 9 August 2020

by Peter Blount 9 August 2020

Greetings in the name of Jesus – Joy and peace to you all.

Now, join the congregation at Temple Baptist Church to declare that ‘A wonder Saviour is Jesus my Lord’

Reading - Matthew Ch 14 v 22 – 33

Jesus Walks on the Sea

²² Immediately Jesus made His disciples get into the boat and go before Him to the other side, while He sent the multitudes away. ²³ And when He had sent the multitudes away, He went up on the mountain by Himself to pray. Now when evening came, He was alone there. ²⁴ But the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary.

²⁵ Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. ²⁶ And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear.

²⁷ But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying,“Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”

²⁸ And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.”

²⁹ So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. ³⁰ But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!”

³¹ And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” ³² And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

³³ Then those who were in the boat came and worshiped Him, saying, “Truly You are the Son of God.”

Reflection

Last week Andy used the earlier verses of this chapter, illustrating his discussion with a picture showing the different attitudes of the crowd as Jesus preached. Only grabbing their full attention towards the end of the day when they were all fed, irrespective of how much of ‘the preach’ they had taken in.

Andy’s message culminated with this paragraph -

‘Wherever we are in the painting, let us not forget that we too have experienced God’s overwhelming generosity, not least in terms of His forgiveness through Jesus. We too can experience the same compassion of Jesus as He touches us at our point of need. Let us then give Him our utmost attention so that we do not miss a word of what He is longing to say to us’.

For Jesus it had been a hard day, having received the news of John’s death and been unable to spend time alone because of the pursuing crowd, only now does he get a chance to be alone. So telling the disciples to go ahead by boat and dismissing the crowd, he is alone with his thoughts, his feelings and with God.

So, the disciples are out on the lake, tired and in a storm. At least some of them were experienced fishermen and sailors but they still struggled against the waves, yet despite all they had learned and seen of Jesus when he approached them walking on the water – they were terrified!

Peter, of course, wanted proof it was Jesus! How typical, how brash, how unnecessary! But showing his usual patience, and I’m sure with a bit of a smile Jesus obliges, puts Peter and the rest of the disciples at ease, climbs into the boat and the wind dies down.

In the space of a few hours the disciples experience God’s overwhelming generosity, forgiveness through Jesus, his power against the forces of nature and His ability to be present at the worst of times with a calming influence.

To me, it is refreshing to know that once the disciples had been recruited as Jesus followers and later would become His advocates on earth, they still had doubts, they still got it wrong, they still wanted proof. It allows me to find some comfort when I feel just like they did, the storm is at hand, the everyday pressures of life become a burden, and the powers of evil are evident all around; I assume this experience is more common than we care to admit.

Even if we are not fully aware and not giving our full attention, Jesus is at hand, closer than we can ever imagine, to give strength and assurance.

As we move to a time of prayer – please listen to the following track

‘O Saviour of the World’

Prayer

Save us and help us we pray

Lord we pray today not just for ourselves but as the song says for the world. This precious place that you created, and that you, despite all our efforts to spoil it, continue to protect and sustain it so that it remains spectacular in so many ways.

We pray today for all who make decisions that effect our nations and our lives.

We pray for the lost, lonely and displaced.

We pray for all who struggle with lockdown and isolation.

We pray for those we know who are ill at home or in hospital.

We pray for any who are bereaved.

We pray for wisdom in re-gathering our fellowship in worship and praise.

We pray that through grace we are able rely on You to magnify our hopes and banish our fears.

Lord Jesus – Thank you

AMEN

Our final song - Insists that Jesus should take the highest honour!

The Blessing