From Fear to Faith

Pastor Gideon

Matthew 14:23-33
After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29 “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.
30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. 33 Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”

In today's age, this passage of scripture may not make sense to many. It will attract cynics and critics who says no one can walk on water. But we all miss the point of this scripture.

The previous verses showed he fed 5,000 which was a great miracle. The disciples partnered with Jesus as they helped distribute the fish and bread.

Verse 22 says "immediately". This is a lesson we can learn. We have no time to bask in the work of God. All glory goes to God. Jesus needed rest and he went up to the mountains to pray. There is no better place of rest than the presence of God.

V27, when they were afraid Jesus immediately told them to take courage, do not be afraid. Peter's response was typical of him, act first think later. He just wanted to be with Jesus, not so much to walk on water.

We all have dreams and desires, but let it be God centred. Peter was the first to ask Jesus and he is the only other that walked on water. He dared to ask God for the impossible. We must dare to dream and we must dare to ask God to fulfill that dream as long as it is God centred.

Sis Melinda once shared: "Where there is no vision the people perish. Where there are no people the vision perish." This is so true.

What are our dreams for our church? That dream needs to have Jesus as the foundation. If we want to walk on water, we need to step up and step out. Peter had to step out of the boat, his comfort zone. We need to step up and step out and follow Him.

Henry Ford had a dream to make cars for everyone. But he made mistakes. His first car never had a reverse gear. His car was too big to leave the garage door. He made mistakes but we need to make mistakes falling forward. It is progress.

Church is made of believers, not doubters. We have to be a people of action. Let's dare to dream for TOP. It's not about the grass being greener on the other side of the fence. Let's work on getting OUR grass greener.

Moses and David was busy tending sheep when God called them. God love doers. They were faithful in what they do.

Peter may be bold, but that does not mean we are not being cautious. We will not do anything that risk our relationship with God.

As we step out, the thing that will stop us is fear. Jesus said "fear not". It's not no fear. Doubt is our enemy, fear our adversary.

If you want to walk on water, you must focus on Jesus. The moment we take our eyes off Jesus, we're going to sink. Jesus took hold of the sinking Peter and called him "you of little faith". In the process of our dreaming and venturing, let's fix our eyes on Jesus. Otherwise, we will accomplish nothing.

When God says "do it", let's not be afraid.

We have a dream for this church. We want a bigger place where people who come is fed, a vibrant youth and Sunday school. It will be a cutting edge church that reaches out to the community. The church of God must advance.

We may dare to dream, but let's not just dream. Let's do it.