Peter: Stepping Out

Here are my message notes for Tuesday night from DELTA X.

Delta x Tuesday night

Story about me stepping out of my comfort zone. • Trying my first hamburger at a underwear show

Review of the last two nights. • Jonah_going south running away from God. Why are we running? • Moses- west, why would you choose me? Who am I? Who is God?
Tonight we are talking about East, about Peter and walking on water, and how it took a huge step of faith

So:
• Jonah - rebelling against God and running away • Moses- calling to do something and coming up with excuses • Peter- finally stepping out once we get called
The story of Jesus and Peter walking on water happens immediately after Jesus fed the 5000 people with 5 loaves of bread and 2 fish.
Read Matthew 14:22-24
Peter steps onto the water.

Do you notice something?
• Jesus after being around people. Giving a sermon, feeding thousands of people, after an amazing miracle
• Jesus sends the disciples away so he can get alone time on the mountainside and pray.
• Even in his busy schedule, spending time with God is a priority for Jesus

In order to have a strong faith you have to pray • Quiet times • If it was was important to Jesus, it should be important to you • How will you ever have faith you need to read the bible and pray?
So he sent out his disciples on a boat to go ahead of Him
Can you imagine what they thought?
• Ok ya, we will go on the boat ahead... • How are you getting there? • Do you have a boat?
• Oh ya for sure, for sure, we are going. • You will catch up? How... Ok we will go

Read Matthew 14:25-27
Sometimes we don't even recognize Jesus in times we are scared. • The disciples, even though they have spent much time with Jesus, don't recognize
him in the storm • Sometimes we don't recognize the Lord in our storms • The disciples say they were terrified! • Jesus calls out to them immediately telling him that he is here!

Read Matthew 14:28-33
They don't believe him, Peter calls out to him saying, "if it's you Jesus, let me come out to you."
Isn't it funny?
• They just saw Jesus feed 5000 people, and they don't believe that he is even walking on water?
• Isn't it funny how we say we believe in Jesus, but sometimes look at jesus' words and don't really believe them either?
Or at least our actions show that we do not believe
Have you ever really thought about how big peters
faith was?
• They were on a lake. Lakes don't really get like "sea storms" these are dessert people • I'm sure they were pooping their pants if it was a true storm • Being on the boat was scary enough, let alone stepping out on stormy water
Ever thought why was it Peter who got to do it?
• It's because he asked Matthew 7:7-8 You ask God to give you strong faith, you read, you pray about it, God will give it to you
You ask God to help you to step out in faith, he will give you opportunities to do so. You will just need step up to it
• When we pray for courage, does God give us courage or does he give us opportunities to be courageous.
• When we ask for patience, does God give us patience or does he give us opportunities to be patient.

I can just see it: • Jesus is walking on the water • Calling out to Peter • Andrew sitting next to to Peter, thinking it's him, and he is scared • Relieved it's Peter and not him that has to do it

We are to have faith that walks on water!

Which one are you in is situation?
• Jesus? Haha no • Peter? Are you stepping out in your faith like that? • Taking risks for Jesus? • Or are you one of the disciples in the boat? Watching Peter do an amazing thing.

Francis chan makes me feel like I'm not a Christian

There are so many of us who are stepping out and doing awesome things for their faith. Proclaiming and showing God's love to other people
Other people will know God's love by the way you show them love 2 reasons why people are not Christians • Because they dint know a Christian • Or because they do

So many of us are the other disciples, sitting in the boat,
watching others do amazing things for Jesus • You know what those are called? Cowards • Telling you right now, I am one of them • If Jesus told me right now, to step out onto the water, i am not sure if my faith would be
strong enough

People stepping out in faith: people in idea being baptized, and they could be killed for their faith Question is: • What have I done to step out in my faith?
Jesus also calls us faith to move mountains.

Your going to look in Hebrews 11: • It's ani all star line up • Noah • Abraham
• Isacc • Jacob • Moses • Joshua • Gideon • Samson • King David • Solomon • Daniel • Jonah • Isaiah

Get my point yet?

Compared to these men and their stories are we really stepping out in our faith?
Peter began to sink when he took his eyes off Jesus
• The distractions are what made him sink
When we are driving and we are focused on the road in front
we are good.
• When we focus on the car next to us, we look that way, we startbto veer off without really knowing
Here at camp, there is not really any distractions, it's really easy to focus on god here

There are distractions everywhere
• Satan will do whatever he can to keep your focus off Jesus • You ever wonder why every time you try to read the bible, you all ofnthensudden feel
like you need to sleep? • Hownthe minute we come home from church, and there is something on the tv or
onnthe computer that happens to be on? • It's not an accident
Even though Peter got distracted and he started to sink • Jesus was there to pick him up

When we are falling and we are sinking because of all the distractions becausenwe are not focused on God

We need to call on Jesus because he will life us up When our focus is on Jesus, we are ablest step out and do amazing things

Which one are you?
• Are you Peter and stepping out in your faith? • Arenyou Peter who is stepping out in your faith and now the geech of life is tying you
up? • Or are you a disciple in the boat, watching other people do amazing things?
If you are stepping up, keep going If you are drowning, stop struggling, let it go, and let Jesus pick you up If you are still in the boat, what are you doing? Wake up, you are called to do more

Jonah: Running Away From God

So we just got back from camp. something we thought would be sweet, for those who did not get to go, to keep everyone in the loop for what we did up there, we did a series called "Navigating Through Life". The first night we went through Jonah, rebelling God. Then we did Moses and doubting God and His ability to work through you. then we talked about Peter and walking on water in stepping out in faith, then ended the week talking about Joshua and crossing the Jordan River into the Promise Land and us going back home from camp and keeping this "camp high" going, this passion for Christ when we are back home.

it truly was an amazing week.

keep an eye out over the next few days as JP and i post our message notes so you can get to experience the camp in a way also.

hope you enjoy

Jonah: The Reluctant Prophet

Jonah 1:1-3 (click HERE to read)

Ok, not the best start to any Bible story, but for legit reasons:

Assyria: Nineveh was the capitol

· One of the most feared nations

· They were brutal

· Rumored: whole nations would commit suicide, rather than deal with their torture

· Raped all women and girls

· Hang all boys

· Skin all the men, bury them in the dessert up to their necks

· Stake their tongues to the ground…all night make them listen to JUSTIN BEIBER CD’s

· Take all the heads and pile it outside the city gates

Jonah had a great reason not to want to go.

WHEN GOD CALLS US TO DO SOMETHING, ITS USUALLY GOING TO BE SOMETHING WE DON’T WANT TO DO.

· You will feel a tug on your heart, and its something that you don’t want to do

· Or it wont make sense

· But we are called to do it anyways

THE TOUGH THINGS WE FEEL GOD CALLING US TO DO WE ARE SUPPOSED TO ACT ON THEM BECAUSE WE ARE FAITHFUL TO HIM.

A prophet during that time, was called to be a messenger of God. we can say that today, ALL Christians are prophets because all of us have this call.

Every prophet/ Christian is called to do 3 things:

· ARISE

· GO

· Cry (not wah-wah cry, but go cry out God’s love to others)

Jonah AROSE, HE WENT…. But he pouted like a baby and ran the other way.

It says he went down to JOPPA, then PAID his way on a boat, to TARSHISH. If you were to look at a map, TARSHISH and Ninevah are about 2000 miles apart.

Jonah didn’t run, HE SPRINTED!

Some of us here:

1) has felt God call us to do something, but we went the other way.

· We are like, “NOPE! Not doing that God. anything else.” Ill talk to anyone else. Ill invite anyone else to church. God that is too hard. Do you even know what that will take of me?

2) some of us have not even given God a chance to even talk to us.

· Meaning, you are so not even sure. You say you are a Christian, but you don’t read His Word, you don’t talk to Him through prayer, you don’t listen to what pastors say at church.

· You are just here. A skeleton.

JUST CAUSE YOU ARE HERE AT CAMP DOESN’T MEAN YOU ARE CLOSE TO GOD.

· Some of you are sitting right here, but inside you are truly the furthest thing from God and His calling from you.

My question is:

· Why are we running? How dare us run from God? do we really think we will out run Him? Do we really inderstand who it is we are running from?

· Think about it…its like when a 2 year old trys to run away from their parents, their little steps get them no where and in 2 steps the parents pick them up.

We think that if we run far enough away, God will be able to use someone else who is better/closer for it.

· IN YOUR OPINION

· But God didn’t call them, he called you

You SEE:

· If we run the other way, God will tell somebody else to go talk to that person sitting by themselves at school, God will tell someone else to step out in faith and preach and interact with the people who you know do not know who God is.

· If we run, then we don’t have to listen or follow his rules.

But, you see, to run from God is like trying to flee from light. The only thing you wind up with is darkness.

· It's like turning in your wealth for poverty.

· It's like making an exchange of wisdom for ignorance.

· It's like turning in joy for sorrow, peace for chaos, usefulness for uselessness, fruit for leaves, reward for punishment

The trap we all fall in is:

· THERE WILL ALWAYS BE A BOAT GOING IN THE OTHER DIRECTION

· Jonah was able to find a boat going in the complete opposite direction.

· We are always capable to find excuse after excuse not to do something.

· Excuse after excuse why we shouldn’t fully follow God.

BUT AGAIN MY QUESTION IS: WHO DO WE THINK WE ARE FOOLING?

· When we think God for a fool, he will make a fool out of us…in a hard, hard way.

Jonah 1:4-11(click HERE to read)

The thing about running from God is: He will sometimes send a storm after you to catch your attention

THE STORM:

· God wasn't through with Jonah, and God was in the business of pursuing. God came after Jonah, and God had infinitely greater resources at His disposal, and so He just blew over the Mediterranean and created a storm. Remind yourself that rebellion never escapes God. Eventually God will appear to say, "you are the man, I am the GOD.”

· God may let a man go to a certain point before He steps in, but, believe me, He'll step in; and God moved in the storm.

· When the storm hit, all the men on the boat started to pray.

Isn’t that a normal thing? When things get hard, that’s when we pray.

· We have it back wards. When things get hard, what do we do? Whats the order?

· Problem, talk to your friends, text your bff, talk to your boyfriend or girlfriend, God forbid talk to your parents, talk to a pastor…oh man I did all that I guess I should pray.

· Prayer needs to be our first instinct. We need to pray first! (Nouwen text)

We are all going to encounter storms. Its going to happen. Its what you do in that storm that will make you or break you.

During storms we should not be:

· WHY IS GOD PUTTING THROUGH THIS STORM? WHY IS HE DOING THIS TO ME?

· What we should be asking is…

· WHAT DID WE DO/OR NOT DO TO CAUSE GOD TO GIVE ME THIS STORM? What am I am I not paying attention to?

· What am I afraid of?

Look at verses 4 and 5 again. Go back to that.

THE SAILORS WERE SCARED TO DEATH AND WERE SUFFERING BECAUSE OF JONAH’S DECSIONS.

· When we do something, and rebel, how many people suffer because of our decisions.

· We become completely selfish, and others suffer.

NOT EVERYTIME WE REBEL AND FLEE WILL GOD PURSUE US.

· In Jonah’s case, God pursued him.

· Our God is living. He is pursuing after our love daily.

· But sometimes he does not. He lets us walk off.

Mark 10: The Rich Young Ruler (click HERE to read)

· God tells him that he needs to sell everything he has in order to follow Jesus because he knew that things and money meant everything to him.

· The man became sad, and walked away.

· JESUS LET HIM! HE DIDN’T CHASE HIM DOWN.

· What??!?! Have you ever noticed that?

Sometimes God will let us go, in hopes one day we will return to HIM.

Luke 15: Prodigal Son (click HERE to read)

· The son rebelled against his father.

· He left home will all the father has given him

· The father did not chase after the son…he let him go.

· BUT THE FATHER WAITED, HOPING FOR THE SONS RETURN.

· When child finally relized he needed his father, he returned home

· THE FATHER RAN TO HIM. WITH OPEN ARMS, AND WELCOMED HIM HOME

When we REBEL, and flee from what God has called us to do, and He lets you go. ITS NOT OVER!

· He just will be waiting for you to come to your senses and he is standing there with his arm wide open, waiting to welcome you back into a relationship with him.

TRUTH IS:

· Some of us are running right now. You have felt that God tug on your heart. And youre just ignoring it.

· Some of us are just avoiding God completely. In everything, because in your mind, if you don’t acknowledge HIM, he wont ask you to do anything that is uncomfortable.

· Some of you are doing it right. You are answering the call. Amazing! Keep doing it.

For those who are running:

· Remember who you are running from. You cant outrun HIM. If He has called you to do something, and you are disobedient, expect a storm coming your way.

· Remember He is the God of the universe. They God who created you.

· We are supposed to show God’s love to everyone, no matter how hard it is.

THE NICE THING ABOUT JONAH:

· Even though he ran, he rebelled, God pursued Him.

· He ended up going in the right direction.

· It just took a big fish to get him there.

THIS TRIP IS YOUR BIG FISH.

· You have been running long enough. You are tired. Its time to turn the right way. Towards God.

Bring Compassion...but Punish Them First

as i am getting ready for our upcoming house boating trip for the student ministries at CCV, i am looking at Jonah for one of the nights that i am speaking. Jonah is not the average Bible story. it sort of ends on a sour note.

if you read Jonah 3 (click here if you want to read it), Jonah finally goes to Nineveh to do what God has instructed him to do, which is to preach against the people there because God said he would basically destroy them because of their evil ways. but.... when you read Jonah 4 (click here if you want to read) we see that the people change their ways and God, as He does everyday for us, shows compassion on them and does not destroy them like He threatened before. JONAH IS LIVID! he was there to preach to them that God was going to bring justice on them because of their ways, his preaching worked, and they changed their ways and instead of being joyous because they will now be saved, he is angry at God for not destroying them. God calls him out. He says, "Do you have any right to be angry?" Jonah then goes and pouts in the corner. (little off topic, but some of my good friends have an amazing song song about Nineveh. The Dandelions. click here to check them out. honestly amazing.)

the thing that i see from this is how many times do we say we are "praying" for our enemies, for the people that we have a hard time with, the people who are doing "bad" in this world, and saying you want God to have COMPASSION for them when really you want God just to smite them with lightning bolts and thunder so that they will be brought to justice?

Yes our God is all powerful, and He is a just God. but He is also forgiving.

the question i have to ask is: when you are praying...are you really praying for compassion for others? or are you really praying for God for justice for your own personal preference?

its an honest question

random fact: The only basketball coach to have a losing record at the University of Kansas is Dr. James Naismith, the INVENTOR OF BASKETBALL.

PET PEEVES

so the other day my friend and i were talking about all of the things that bugs us or things that people do that bug us. we were laughing really hard. so i thought it would be funny to make a whole list of things that are my PET PEEVES (this is not a normal post, but i thought it would be funny)

Ready? here we go:

• Drivers who don't use a turn signal.
  
• People who read out loud what they're typing in an email or letter.
  
• Kids who tease dogs through a fence.
  
• Couples who sit on the same side of the booth when there is no one on the other side.
  
• Parents who bring their young kids to R rated films.
• People who sit next to you on public transportation even when there are other seats available.
• Noisy eaters.
  
• Students who prolong class by asking the most inane questions.
  
• When people take 20 napkins, use one, then throw them all away.
  
• Whenever anyone says "Ya, know what I'm sayin"...
  
• Drivers who won't turn right on red.
  
• When you genuinely ask someone what's wrong (when there obviously is something wrong) and they respond half-heartedly, "hmmm? oh nothing..."
  
• People who ride their bikes in the road when a sidewalk is right there.
  
• People who take forever to order food while I'm in line.
  
• The way people walk in flip flops.
  
• When you're eating candy and someone asks if they can have a red one.
  
• Chasing after a ping pong ball.
  
• Jerks who take up 2 parking spaces.
  
• When something I've been into for a long time becomes popular.
  
• People who give their kids weird names
  
• People who invite you out somewhere then cancel.
  
• When you order a salad at a restaurant and they bring it to you at the same time as your dinner.
• When you can't tell if someone is male or female.
• When you're invited to a party (or any event) with people you have never met, and the host doesn't introduce you to anyone.
  
• People who go the wrong way in a parking lot.
  
• People who write "Keep in touch!" in your yearbook but never talk to you again.
  
• When someone with a full cart of groceries gets into the 10 items or less line.
  
• Movie sequels that are unnecessary.
  
• When someone leaves their phone number at the end of a long message and they say it so fast you can't understand it and have to listen multiple times to figure it out.
  
• Suburban kids who think they are gangstas.
  
• When people say 'supposebly' instead of 'supposedly'.
  
• In an obviously crowded restaurant, people who linger long after receiving their check.
  
• When you pull a string hanging from your shirt and it doesn't break, but only becomes longer.
• People who can't complete a sentence without saying "you know".
• When people don't clear the microwave numbers.
  
• People who refer to themselves in the third person.
• People who wear CROCS....they should be illegal
• People who no matter what relate to something you have done and try to "one up" you.
  
• Rappers who thank God at awards ceremonies.
  
• Mumbling, then annoyingly saying "Forget it!" when people don't hear you.
  
• People who use a calculator to figure out the tip at a restaurant.
  
• People who don't use deodorant.
  
• Taking forever to leave a parking space while others are clearly waiting for it
  
• People who say the time like "Eight AM in the morning".
  
• People who won't take their kid out of a restaurant when they are crying, screaming, etc.
  
• Guys who wear wife beaters (and nothing else for a shirt) in public.
  
• In mini golf when you miss the hole three times in a row less than a foot away.
  
• When someone starts to watch a show or movie in the middle of it and expect you to tell them what's happening.
  
• Shopping carts with a broken wheel.
  
• Going out to dinner with a big group, eating $10 worth of food and having to split the whole bill and ending up paying much more than you ate.
  
• Sitting in the movies and hearing someone eating popcorn.
  
• People who talk about their favorite sports team and say "WE" like they are a part of the team.
  
• When those little hinges on the CD case break, and now you can't open and close it.
  
• Email with no subject.
  
• When someone is giving a speech in class and they won't stop looking at you as they speak.
  
• When you're trying to walk in the mall and there's a kiosk and they hound you to try their cell phone service or whatever.
  
• Speed Bumps.
  
• People who tell you "Oh! You have to try this! It's the best thing ever!" And when you do try it and it sucks.
  
• Movie talkers
  
• People who constantly sniffle.
  
• Getting stuck at red lights, while nobody is going the other direction.
  
• Wobbly tables.
  
• TV shows and commercials ads with ringing doorbells or phones, which make you into thinking the sound is coming from your house.
  

that is all i have right now....but i guess that is a lot. just having some fun with pet peeves. hope you got a laugh out of them.

Just Thinking Out Loud Here

so i have been in palm springs the past few days with my family. my sister brought a few friends and kristin was able to join me out here as well (i love her). my family rented this ridiculously nice house for the week. there is a courtyard when you walk in through the "front door" with a huge fountain and the entire house wraps around this courtyard. there is an amazing pool right on the golf course. i got to play one of the most difficult/famous golf courses in America, the PGA-West Pete Dye's "The Stadium". it has one of the most famous holes in all of golf (i parred it, just saying when Tiger played here last he hit it in the water. booyah). so its been fun being able to hang out and relax with the family.

but i noticed something. when i was golfing and at the place we are staying at, we are almost the only ones here. i mean, not a lot of people would come to palm springs in the summer (we are not most people). i would say almost 50% of the houses out here are not used for at least 6 months out of the year.

then i read this quote from Rob Bell in his book "Jesus Wants to Save Christians." he says,

God measures our faith by how we treat the widows, orphans, strangers - the weak - among us."

my thought was, what if Christians took this to heart. i mean really took this to heart. i mean literally took this to heart to the point that it would probably make us step out of our comfort zones a little bit. stepping out makes you grow in faith. God measures your faith by how much you step out and care for the oppressed.

i got thinking, what if every family that had a house out here in palm springs, allowed a family who was homeless to live in the house while they were trying to get back out on their feet? imagine how many families would be able to have a roof over their heads because we allowed them to stay in a house that we wouldnt to stay in because of the weather? here is an excuse, "but homeless people are just drunk or high all of the time, you have no idea what they will do with our stuff." youre sort of right, SOME homeless are homeless for those reasons. but the fact is a huge majority of families are homeless because of bad luck. Look just around us! in San Dimas' Red Roof Inn, there are 60....SIXTY..... families living there. full families in one room.

could you really imagine if Christians stepped up and did something extreme like allowing others to use extra houses, or rooms, or shoot, extra anything you have. because if that quote is true, which i think it is because it convicts me like crazy, and God measures our faith by how well me treat the oppressed, i would love to prove God right in the fact that my faith is firm. and i can show others that God cares for them by the way HIS people treat and care for them.

God help me have an even bigger heart for the oppressed. let me show Your love through me to them to let them know there is a God who loves and cares for them. AMEN.

Random Fact: Oscar winner Tommy Lee Jones and Vice President Al Gore were college roommates at Harvard.

Wow Wowzers Wowey

i cant even sleep right now. tonight was amazing.

i preached at Shift Students tonight. i got to finish the "Red Letters" series. it was a series that we got to teach students some things that we have been struggling with, and dealing with ourselves.

i got to preach on John 3:16, and the weight that this verse truly has when we read it in its true context. the fact that John 3:16 is the Christian staple verse changes when we read the verses that surround it. verses 17-21 are the toughest/intense verses in John. in order for us to really GET John 3:16, in order for us to not perish and have eternal life, we HAVE to obey and take in consideration John 3:17-21.

after the message, quite a few of students came forward to pray. AWESOME. i got to pray with one student who i have been looking forward to praying with. and i got to pray with someone who excepted Christ for the first time. seriously amazing. this is just a reminder of why i am doing what i am doing.

IT WAS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!

God thank you for allowing this to happen

Tell Me What You See?

This thought came to me this morning as i was just laying in bed:

if someone were to ask us, "are you a Christ Follower?" would be be comfortable and confident to answer like this: "Tell me what you see"?

is there enough evidence by the way we live our lives to show that we are followers of Jesus? what if they were to ask the people who are around us? or the poor in our cities? would they be able to answer, "yes, that person is a follower of Jesus because i can tell by how they treated me."

our actions should show that we are Christ followers. we are supposed to be the image of Jesus, and we should act like Him. Christians have not always looked like Jesus, i can easily admit that. and that makes me sad. Shane Claiborne says, "Perhaps the greatest barrier to Christ has been Christians who pronounce Jesus so loudly with their lips and deny Him so loudly with their lives."

i want to break that barrier with my life. i want to be able to answer the question of "are you a Christ follower?" with "tell me what you see" and be confident that i have done what we are all called to do.

random fact: If you watch early Fresh Prince of Bel-Air you can see Will Smith's lips moving to other characters lines.