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Max Lucado – Footsteps: Learning to Follow Where God Leads · Max Lucado Daily Sermons

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We're journeying through Israel, literally, literally.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: Last week, we packed our bags and we grabbed our
• 0:10
  Speaker 2: passports and we boarded a flight to the Holy Land
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: and we spent a better part of a day in
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  Speaker 2: a beautiful, enchanting little village that's been there for thousands
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: of years called Capernaum, Capernaum. And the message that Jesus
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  Speaker 2: gave the people there on the shoreline of Capernaum was,
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: don't be afraid, just believe. And he healed a woman
• 0:36
  Speaker 2: who had been sick for 12 years. And he rose
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  Speaker 2: from the dead a young girl. Well, that message of
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  Speaker 2: don't be afraid, just believe was not limited to the
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  Speaker 2: shoreline of the Sea of Galilee. But he took the
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  Speaker 2: message out onto the sea itself. And that's where we're
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: going today. You want to go on a boat ride?
• 1:03
  Speaker 2: Over the recent years. Or over the many years. I've
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  Speaker 2: had the opportunity to make many trips. To the Holy Land.
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  Speaker 2: And on a recent one. Knowing that my number of trips.
• 1:15
  Speaker 2: Are probably going to be. Not as many in the future.
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: We thought well let's just capture these messages. And so
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  Speaker 2: we enlisted the support of a. Of a video crew.
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  Speaker 2: And they went with us everywhere we went. And the consequences.
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  Speaker 2: I'm able to bring just a little bit of Israel.
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  Speaker 2: To you. And today we go out on the Sea
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  Speaker 2: of Galilee. And in this particular message. You're going to
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  Speaker 2: see some familiar faces. Primarily the face of Travis Eads.
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  Speaker 2: Who was leading worship. On that trip. And did such
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  Speaker 2: a phenomenal job. Located about 60 miles north of Jerusalem.
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  Speaker 2: The Sea of Galilee is Israel's largest freshwater lake. It
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  Speaker 2: rests at almost 700 feet below sea level, which makes
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  Speaker 2: it the lowest freshwater lake in the whole world. The
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  Speaker 2: water in the sea comes from snowmelt and runoff. From
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  Speaker 2: the local mountains. Which combined with the headwaters of the
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  Speaker 2: Jordan River. To fill up a geographic bowl. In the
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  Speaker 2: shape of a harp. In fact the original name or
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  Speaker 2: the most ancient name. Given to Galilee is Lake Canassarit.
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  Speaker 2: Which may be as a result of its shape. Because
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  Speaker 2: the word for harp in Hebrew is Kenor. The Sea
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  Speaker 2: of Galilee is surrounded on all sides by hills. And
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  Speaker 2: on the eastern side, these hills can reach a height
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  Speaker 2: of 2,000 feet. And when that cold air blows out
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  Speaker 2: of those Golan Heights onto the Sea of Galilee, the
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  Speaker 2: warmer weather, storms can happen. It was a lake of
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  Speaker 2: life in the days of Jesus. The people lived near it,
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  Speaker 2: fished on it, traveled over it, drank from it. However,
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  Speaker 2: Jesus caused quite a stir one day when he walked
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  Speaker 2: upon it. Immediately, Jesus made his disciples get into the
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  Speaker 2: boat and go before him to the other side. And
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  Speaker 2: he sent the multitudes away. And when he had sent
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  Speaker 2: the multitudes away, he went up on the mountain by
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  Speaker 2: himself to pray. Now, when evening came, he was alone there.
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  Speaker 2: But the boat was in the middle of the sea.
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  Speaker 2: tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. Now
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  Speaker 2: in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went walking
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  Speaker 2: to them on the sea. And when the disciples saw
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  Speaker 2: him walking on the sea, they were troubled. They said,
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  Speaker 2: It is a ghost. And they cried out in fear.
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  Speaker 2: But immediately Jesus spoke to them.
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  Speaker 1: And he said, it is I.
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  Speaker 2: Be of good cheer.
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  Speaker 1: Don't be afraid.
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  Speaker 2: And Peter answered and said, Lord, if it is you,
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  Speaker 2: command me to come to you on the waters. And
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  Speaker 2: so Jesus had come. And when Peter had come down
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  Speaker 2: out of the boat, he walked on the water to
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  Speaker 2: go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind and
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  Speaker 2: he saw the waves, he was afraid. And he sunk
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  Speaker 2: like a stone. Lakato translation. And he began to sink.
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  Speaker 2: And he cried out, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus
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  Speaker 2: stretched out his hand and caught him and said to him, Oh,
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  Speaker 2: you of little faith, why did you doubt? When he
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  Speaker 2: got into the boat, the wind ceased. Those who were
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  Speaker 2: in the boat came and worshipped him. And they said, truly,
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  Speaker 2: you are the Son of God. The Sea of Galilee
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  Speaker 2: is relatively small, isn't it? I mean, when we read
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  Speaker 2: about it in Sunday school as a kid, I pictured
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  Speaker 2: it as big as the Pacific Ocean.
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  Speaker 1: Thirteen miles deep. long at its longest, some seven and.
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  Speaker 2: A half miles wide at its widest, yet this diminutive
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  Speaker 2: state of the sea makes it more subjective to those winds.
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  Speaker 1: That howl down upon.
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  Speaker 2: The water out of the Golan Heights, turning this relatively
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  Speaker 2: calm body of water into what? A blender of ten-foot
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  Speaker 2: waves Up and down, up and down. It can happen
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  Speaker 2: several times over the course of a winter. And that's
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  Speaker 2: exactly what happened to the followers. The lake became a
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  Speaker 2: popcorn popper. Lifting that boat, spinning it around, plopping it down.
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  Speaker 2: Lightning zigzagged through the dark sky. Thunder roared, thunder popped.
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  Speaker 2: And the disciples screamed. Galileans came to expect the storms.
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  Speaker 2: I'm thinking that Matthew, the tax collector, is wondering what
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  Speaker 2: in the world he's gotten himself into. And his arms
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  Speaker 2: are wrapped around that mast and his cheek is pressed
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  Speaker 2: right up against the wood and he's shivering from the cold.
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  Speaker 2: And the fishermen among them, they know exactly what's about
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  Speaker 2: to happen. And so they start rowing. They start rowing.
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  Speaker 2: They row, row, row the boat. But they do not
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  Speaker 2: get very far because they're rowing into the wind. And
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  Speaker 2: that night has come as that day came with turbulence.
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  Speaker 1: Life comes with storms. Life comes with storms.
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  Speaker 2: The atmospheric conditions of this fallen world create a low-pressure system.
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  Speaker 2: that generates struggles and stress and challenges. I'm not telling
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  Speaker 2: you anything when I tell you no one gets through
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  Speaker 2: life scot-free. No one.
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  Speaker 1: No one.
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  Speaker 2: Not the old, not the young, not the rich, not
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  Speaker 2: the poor, not the healthy, not the unhealthy. Everybody has
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  Speaker 2: to face their share of storms. That person sitting to
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  Speaker 2: your right, they know what a storm is like. And
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  Speaker 2: that person in front of you, they know a storm
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  Speaker 2: or two. That person to your left, yeah. They've had
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  Speaker 2: to zip up the jacket and pull out the umbrella.
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  Speaker 2: And many of you are facing a storm right now.
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  Speaker 2: Peter and his fellow storm riders They knew they were
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  Speaker 2: in trouble. They knew what these storms could do. They
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  Speaker 2: had weathered them before. Sunlight was a distant memory. Rain
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  Speaker 2: fell in buckets. Winds whipped the sails.
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  Speaker 1: And that boat lurched like a kite in a march wind.
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  Speaker 1: Matthew gives us the best description.
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  Speaker 2: The boat was now in the middle of the sea,
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  Speaker 2: tossed by the waves.
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  Speaker 1: For the wind... was contrary. Could a more discouraging sentence
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  Speaker 1: be written?
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  Speaker 2: The boat was now in the middle, not near the coast,
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  Speaker 2: but in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves.
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  Speaker 1: Not just riding on the waves, but.
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  Speaker 2: Tossed, lifted 10 feet up into the air, and then
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  Speaker 2: plopped down into the valley. Between the next wave, they
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  Speaker 2: held on because here comes another wave. They could feel it.
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  Speaker 2: They couldn't see it. because it was in the middle
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  Speaker 2: of the night, and the wind was contrary. No matter
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  Speaker 2: how hard they rowed, they could not make any progress.
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  Speaker 2: Has anyone seen Jesus?
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  Speaker 1: What do you mean?
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  Speaker 2: He told us to get in the boat. We only
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  Speaker 2: did what he said. He told us to do. He said,
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  Speaker 2: get in the boat, didn't he say?
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, he said it. Where is he?
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  Speaker 3: I don't know.
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  Speaker 2: If only Jesus were here. I mean, it's one thing
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  Speaker 2: to be in a storm because you disobeyed. It's another
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  Speaker 2: thing to be in a storm because you did what
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  Speaker 2: you thought was right.
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  Speaker 1: And here you're in a storm anyway. But for, hang
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  Speaker 1: on to your hat, nine hours.
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  Speaker 2: Not one, not two, not three, not four, not five,
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  Speaker 2: not six, not seven, not eight, but nine hours. Nine hours.
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  Speaker 2: They fought the storm. They couldn't get from one side
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  Speaker 2: to the next. But then, after nine hours, the most
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  Speaker 2: remarkable thing happens. The disciples spot someone coming on the water.
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  Speaker 2: They assume it's a ghost, and they cry out with fear. Again,
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  Speaker 2: about four o'clock in the morning, Jesus came toward them,
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  Speaker 2: walking on the water. They were scared out of their wits,
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  Speaker 2: one translation says. A ghost, they said, crying out in terror.
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  Speaker 2: They didn't expect Jesus to come to them this way.
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  Speaker 2: Neither did you. We expect him to come in the
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  Speaker 2: form of peaceful hymns. A nice morning devotional. Easter Sunday.
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  Speaker 2: or a quiet retreat. We never, never expect Jesus to
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  Speaker 2: come in the midst of a cancer diagnosis. We never,
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  Speaker 2: never expect that we'll see him most clearly when we're bankrupt.
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  Speaker 2: We never, never expect that just as the man breaks
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  Speaker 2: your heart, Christ enters the broken places. We never expect
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  Speaker 2: Jesus to to come in the middle of the storm,
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  Speaker 2: but that's when he comes because that is when he
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  Speaker 2: is most seen. Jesus responds to their fear with an
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  Speaker 2: invitation that is worthy of inscription on every church cornerstone.
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  Speaker 2: Here it is transliterated, not translated, but word for word
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  Speaker 2: for word. Here's what the disciples heard.
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  Speaker 1: Courage. I am. Fear not. Percussive staccato.
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  Speaker 2: Courage. He speaks courage into the storm. I believe he
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  Speaker 2: is not just calling for courage. He is releasing supernatural courage.
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  Speaker 4: Courage.
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  Speaker 2: Courage.
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  Speaker 1: Most translations have Jesus saying, it is I, or I
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  Speaker 1: am here. The literal translation is simply, I am.
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  Speaker 2: I am. So Jesus here is not just announcing his
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  Speaker 2: presence on the sea. He is announcing his authority over
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  Speaker 2: the sea.
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  Speaker 1: I am.
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  Speaker 2: I am.
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  Speaker 1: And the waves perk up.
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  Speaker 3: I am.
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  Speaker 1: And the winds begin to listen.
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  Speaker 2: I am.
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  Speaker 1: And the lightning retreats. Because I am is here.
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  Speaker 2: I am. I wonder if you would allow Jesus to
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  Speaker 2: proclaim his name over your problem. I am.
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  Speaker 1: Has spoken over your cancer.
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  Speaker 2: I am has spoken over your sadness and grief. I
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  Speaker 2: am has spoken over your concern for your children.
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  Speaker 1: I am. Is anybody going to help me? God says,
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  Speaker 1: I am. Is anyone listening? God says, I am. Is
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  Speaker 1: anyone coming? God says, I am.
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  Speaker 4: I am.
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  Speaker 2: I am came to the disciples on the storm. And
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  Speaker 2: with these words, Jesus declared himself to be the commander
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  Speaker 2: of the storm. Peter got the point. I know we
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  Speaker 2: pick on Peter. But Peter understood that all of a sudden,
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  Speaker 2: the commander of.
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  Speaker 1: The storm was present.
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  Speaker 2: That's why the scripture says, Lord, if you command me,
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  Speaker 2: if you command me to come to you on the water,
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  Speaker 2: I will. Peter knew who was commanding the shots. And
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  Speaker 2: so Jesus did. And since Peter would rather be out
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  Speaker 2: of the boat with Christ than in the boat without him,
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  Speaker 2: Jesus had come. And when Peter had come out of
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  Speaker 2: the boat, he walked on the water.
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  Speaker 1: To Jesus.
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  Speaker 2: As long as Peter's focus was on Christ, he had courage.
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  Speaker 2: But the moment, the very moment, he looked somewhere besides
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  Speaker 2: the face of Christ, he was afraid. And he began
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  Speaker 2: to see. Some years ago, I had a diagnosis that
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  Speaker 2: gave me some fear. I've had some issues with my
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  Speaker 2: heart over the last couple.
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  Speaker 1: Of years, for a few years. But a few years ago,
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  Speaker 1: there was.
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  Speaker 2: One situation I had in which my heart would not
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  Speaker 2: stop beating so fast. I felt like I was running
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  Speaker 2: a marathon all day long. My heart rate was somewhere
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  Speaker 2: between 110 to 120 all day long. And it was
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  Speaker 2: like I was sending Morse code. And I was just exhausted.
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  Speaker 2: And finally, I got an appointment with the cardiologist. He
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  Speaker 2: checked me out and he said, Max, I want you
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  Speaker 2: to go sit in my office. I'll come in and
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  Speaker 2: talk to you. You know, when I was in high school,
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  Speaker 2: I didn't like being sent to the office. And as
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  Speaker 2: a grown up, I still don't like being sent to
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  Speaker 2: the office. But I went in and I sat in
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  Speaker 2: the office of the cardiologist and I looked up on
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  Speaker 2: the wall and I saw one diploma after another. This
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  Speaker 2: diploma from that university. Somebody else gave him a second
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  Speaker 2: degree from that university. Over here, his wife gave him
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  Speaker 2: the third degree. He had diplomas everywhere. And the more
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  Speaker 2: I saw his diplomas, the better I felt. In comes
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  Speaker 2: the nurse. She hands me a sheet of paper.
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  Speaker 1: And I read words like atrial fibrillation.
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  Speaker 2: Arrhythmia, stroke, blood clot, and I felt myself begin to sink.
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  Speaker 2: And I realized I could either stare at the problem
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  Speaker 2: or I could stare at the accomplishments of the physician.
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  Speaker 2: And so I put the sheet to the side and
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  Speaker 2: I said, I think I'll read the diplomas.
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  Speaker 1: You will never.
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  Speaker 2: Lead a life absent problems, but you will always have
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  Speaker 2: a life in which you have the presence of the
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  Speaker 2: I am. So the I am shows up in the
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  Speaker 2: middle of your problems and he says, let me show
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  Speaker 2: you my diplomas. Let me show you who I am.
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  Speaker 2: Let me show you what I have done. And the
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  Speaker 2: Hebrew writer says we must pay closer attention to what
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  Speaker 2: we have heard so that we do not drift away
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  Speaker 2: from it. We must pay closer attention to what we
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  Speaker 2: have heard so that we do not drift away from it.
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  Speaker 1: Whatever it takes, my friends. Pay closer attention to what.
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  Speaker 2: God has done so that you do not drift away
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  Speaker 2: from it. Isn't it amazing that Jesus, so patient with Peter,
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  Speaker 2: extended his hand somewhere into these very waters and he
• 19:36
  Speaker 2: pulled a sinking Peter up. And then within a moment,
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  Speaker 2: somehow the two of them supernaturally.
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  Speaker 1: Were in a boat.
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  Speaker 2: And the minute that Jesus was in the boat, the
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  Speaker 2: storm was still. Jesus wants to get in the boat
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  Speaker 2: of your struggles. He wants to get in the boat
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  Speaker 2: of your problems. He wants to get into the.
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  Speaker 1: Middle of it. Because he knows that.
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  Speaker 2: Once you face him, you will have courage to face
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  Speaker 2: your problems.
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  Speaker 1: If your problems are too big, your vision is too low.
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  Speaker 2: Lift up your eyes and focus on him.
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  Speaker 5: You don't have to stay close. As long as you're
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  Speaker 5: somewhere out there.
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  Speaker 1: That's enough for me.
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  Speaker 6: I don't need to hold you near me Don't need
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  Speaker 6: promises to keep Just the thought that you are breathing
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  Speaker 6: Somewhere in this world I see Even if I'm not
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  Speaker 6: beside you Even if you never know.
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  Speaker 5: There's a quiet kind of comfort just in knowing you
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  Speaker 5: still glow.
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  Speaker 1: I don't need forever.
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  Speaker 6: I just need you to exist.
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  Speaker 5: You don't have to stay with me.
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  Speaker 2: You don't have.
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  Speaker 3: To feel the same.
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  Speaker 4: Just as long as.
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  Speaker 5: You're still out there Calling softly through my days You
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  Speaker 5: don't have to look my way You don't have to
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  Speaker 5: be my home It's enough to know you're living In
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  Speaker 5: a world I'm not alone I.
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  Speaker 4: Won't chase you through the distance.
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  Speaker 5: Won't disturb your chosen life. I'll just keep you in
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  Speaker 5: my silence like a star that shines at night. Through
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  Speaker 5: the dark and through the blue.
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  Speaker 3: I still think of you. You don't have to be
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  Speaker 3: my home.
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  Speaker 5: It's enough to know you're living in a world.
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  Speaker 2: I'm not alone.
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  Speaker 6: I don't need to be your light I don't need
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  Speaker 6: to cross your mind All I need is just the
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  Speaker 6: truth That you're somewhere.
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  Speaker 5: Still alive.
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  Speaker 6: You don't have to.
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  Speaker 4: Stay with me You don't have to feel the same
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  Speaker 4: Just as long as you're still out there Calling softly
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  Speaker 4: through my days You don't have to look my way
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  Speaker 4: You don't have to be my home It's.
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  Speaker 5: Enough to know you're living
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  Speaker 2: In a world I'm not alone.