Life Lifters | Lakeshore Community Church

Apr 30 8:11 AM

Walking on Waves

Apr 30 8:11 AM

Friday, April 30, 2021

The question is, how will you handle those difficult times, not if they come, but how will you handle those difficult times when they come? Because they will come.

Friday, April 30, 2021

Matthew 14:27-31

Today, I want to talk to you about problems. That's a real fun topic! But life is full of problems, right? Pastor Vince says this all the time. He says, "You're either right now in the middle of a problem, or you've just come out of a problem, or you are just about to enter into a problem." It's cyclical. Problems in life, they come like waves. And it's a normal part of life. The question is, how will you handle those difficult times, not if they come, but how will you handle those difficult times when they come? Because they will come.

As I said, it's like a cycle, they come in waves. And we see Jesus illustrating this for us when he invites Peter to walk with him on the water of the Sea of Galilee. Just a little background, Jesus had just performed this incredible miracle, the feeding of the 5000, as it's called, with just five loaves of bread and two fish. Jesus dismisses the disciples. He tells them after this speaking engagement to go in the boat and cross the sea of Galilee. He tells them he will meet them there on the other side. So, Jesus stays behind, goes up on a mountain, and he wants to be by himself so he can pray to his father. Then, in order to to meet up with the disciples, Jesus begins to walk across the Sea of Galilee. So again, the disciples went ahead of him, Jesus needs to catch up. And here it is, he's walking on water. The passage tells us that the water was kind of rough. In fact, it says the wind was strong, and the waves were buffeting against the boat. So, you can imagine how freaked out the disciples were, since the waters were a bit rough, and all of a sudden there's a person walking on the water towards the boat. We see in Matthew 14:27-29 Jesus says to them in that moment, '"Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid."

"Lord, if it is you," Peter replied, "tell me to come out to you on the water."

"Come," Jesus said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water, and came towards Jesus.'

So Jesus knows that life is full of problems, and that they're like the waves of the sea that come one after the other. But they can be spaced out by the tides, as well. So he invited Peter in the middle of this storm to step out of the boat, to put his faith and trust in Jesus, and walk on the water to do the impossible. But, Jesus says this to him, "Take courage. Don't be afraid." I don't know what impossible problem you're facing right now, but Jesus wants you to take your courage. He wants you to not be afraid. He wants you to come out onto those waves and walk with him. He wants to take your hand, and he wants to walk with you through your problems. He doesn't want to lift you out of your problems, but he wants to walk with you through your problems, because we need to learn and trust in Jesus.

So back to Peter in verses 30-31. 'But when he saw the wind -' now, stop right there. I don't know how you see wind, but that must have been some crazy wind that night. 'But when he, Peter, saw the wind, he was afraid and began to sink. And he cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately, Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. He said, "You of little faith, why do you doubt?"' So the question that we have to ask is, why did Peter begin to sink? It's because he took his eyes off of Jesus, and he put them on the wind and the waves. He put his eyes on the problems that he was going through. The same thing happens to us. When we go through problems, we step out of the boat. We begin strong. We begin to let Jesus walk us through our problems, but then we take our eyes off of Jesus and we focus on the problems again. The whole time, Jesus is saying, "Take courage! Don't be afraid." But, we keep looking at the waves. We keep getting into fear, and we begin to sink. Then, Jesus shows us how much he loves us. He reaches out his hand, and he pulls us up. He says the words to Peter that no Christian wants to hear. He says, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" No Christian wants to hear that. But the truth is, so many of us go through life's problems, and we tend to focus on the problems instead of focusing on Jesus. So let's learn from Peter. Let's grow in our faith and keep our eyes on Jesus. When we're tempted to focus on the problem, to take control of the problem, to doubt and not believe, to dismiss the fact that there's a lesson in this problem for me to learn, let's turn our focus back to Jesus, allowing him to lead us through the problem.

Let's go back to the first thing as we wrap up. Back to what Jesus said to the disciples as he was approaching the boat. He said, "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." Someone watching this needs to write that down right now. "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." Remind yourself daily to take your courage, the courage that Jesus gives to you to keep your eyes on Jesus throughout the problem, and to not be afraid. Fear is the opposite of faith. Where there is fear, there's a lack of faith. Jesus will see you through your problems. I hope you find that encouraging. I hope that brings a lift to your week. And I want to encourage you to do one final thing. Don't just have a great day. Go and make a great day.

By Pastor Frank De Luccio

Apr 26 8:11 AM

Find Your Bait

Apr 26 8:11 AM

Monday, April 26, 2021

Jesus wants us to use a hook and some bait. You see Jesus is that hook, but we have to provide the bait.

Monday, April 26, 2021

4:19-20

Today, I want to talk to you about one of my favorite passages of Scripture. It's Matthew 4:19-20. I want to take you back to 1993. I was much younger then, and at that time I was investigating biblical Christianity. I had been reading the Bible for about a year and was reading through the Gospel of Matthew. And in Matthew 4, I read the story of how Jesus called Peter and Andrew, who were two brothers, two fishermen, how Jesus called them to follow him. They were out fishing, and they were on the shore of the Sea of Galilee. In verse 19, Jesus said something to them that not only changed their lives, but it actually changed my life forever. Jesus said, "Come, follow me, and I will make you fishers of men." I was so taken aback by Jesus' words, because first, it was so simple, it was an invitation to come follow him. But at the same time, it was so profound, it was a promise to replace what they had been doing as a livelihood, which was fishing, and replace it with a calling to serve God. It was a call to go out and fish for the souls of men and women.

The response of Peter and Andrew is seen in verse 20. I find this just as intriguing because verse 20 says this, "Immediately they left their nets, and followed him." That's the part that really got a hold of me, because it was that very night after reading that verse, that I immediately got down on my knees, and receive Jesus Christ in my life as my Lord and my Savior for the very first time. But here's the thing. I wasn't a fisherman. Yes, I fished before. I knew what it meant to use a rod and a reel. But I knew nothing about what it meant to fish for the souls of people. And that's when Jesus began to, over time, show me how he wants me to use my gifts and my abilities that he gave me to attract other people to him. Now, Peter and Andrew, they were commercial fishermen. When they went out to fish, they used a net and would drop the net into the water, and they would pull it in, and the net allowed them to catch dozens, or 50, or maybe even 100 fish at a time. But in my experience with Jesus, he often wants us to fish for one person at a time. So instead of using a net, Jesus wants us to use a hook and some bait. You see Jesus is that hook, but we have to provide the bait.

So let me ask you a question. What are you good at? What gifts and abilities has God given you? What hobbies do you have? At work are you on a team, or maybe you're a part of a group? What clubs or organizations do you belong to? These can all be that bait. You see, when you decide to follow Jesus, He will use your gifts and your skills, your activities and your interests, the connections and relationships that you have. He will use those as the bait on the hook. He will use the things that you have in common with people to help you build deeper relationships and friendships so that you can eventually share your faith in him. For me, that bait is often music. God has opened up the door for me to be involved in a few different pit orchestras, playing the guitar for local high school productions. And music is that bait on the hook that has allowed me to meet other musicians who I would not normally get a chance to meet and build friendships with them. And there's always those one or two musicians that God has put me in with, where he's opened the door for me to get to know, share my faith and invite them to come to church. So I want to ask you this. Where can you build relationships? Are there people that you have things in common with, common interests? Begin praying and ask God if he wants you to use this as bait to attract people to him. You may be the one person that God wants to use in someone's life, to share the gospel with them, and to have them come to know Jesus in a personal way. Will you accept Jesus's invitation? You've probably already accepted the invitation to follow him. But will you be a fisher for the souls of men and women? I hope you guys find encouragement in that today. I hope you feel challenged in that today. And I want to encourage you right now, don't just go and have a great day. Go and make a great day.

By Pastor Frank De Luccio

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