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Walking on Water

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Walking on Water 5. Some tests can make us feel isolated and even desperate. When have you Walking on Water felt all alone and isolated? When have you felt desperate, like your back was Mark 6:45-52 against the wall? How do these emotions challenge our ability to take our July 14, 2013 Dr. David Jeremiah problem to Jesus? These two emotions can be the most challenging in the mists of a test. Being alone during a test is a draining way to face the Sermon Notes experience. We need others to stand with us while we take the test (Jesus I. The Pattern of the Test - Mark 6:45; John 6:14-15 took Peter, James and John with him when he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane). Desperation can make us feel like we need to make decisions II. The Preparation for the Test - Mark 6:45-48a in the heat of a moment, when we may just need to wait a little while. A. Isolation - Mark 6:47; Matthew 14:24-25a; John 6:16-17 B. Desperation - Mark 6:48a; Matthew 14:24; John 6:18 – 19a III. The Process of the Test - Mark 6:48b-50 Bringing it Home 1. Pastor Jeremiah also said, “Problems are situations engineered by God to A. What the Disciples Saw - Mark 6:48b-49a; John 6:19b demonstrate our inadequacy so that we will look to His sufficiency as our only hope.” In what area of your life are you facing a problem, feeling challenged, B. What the Disciples Said - Mark 6:49b; Matthew 14:26 isolated or desperate? How is your inadequacy driving you to depend more on God? God drives us at times. He puts us in situations we simply cannot get C. What the Disciples Felt - Mark 6:50a; Matthew 14:26; John 6:19b; out of without him. We don’t look forward to those times, but we find that these Mark 6:52 tests stretch us and challenge us to grow in ways we simply would not have grown without them. E. What the Disciples Heard - Mark 6:50b; Matthew 14:27; John 6:20 IV. The Purpose of the Test - Mark 6:51-52 A. The Wonder of Jesus 1. Jesus walked on the water. - Mark 6:48 2. How is God using this test to move you to a deeper trust in Him? What is He saying to you through the test? Is He asking for more faith in him? More risk- 2. Jesus calmed the sea. - Mark 6:51 taking? Maybe more obedience? How can you respond to what God is asking of your right now? It’s important to listen during the test. God is saying 3. Peter walked on the water. - Matthew 14:28-31 something specific to us, and we need to make sure we hear what he is saying. 4. They were transported immediately to the other side. – John 6:21 B. The Worship of Jesus - Matthew 14:33 V. The Promise for the Test - Mark 6:47-48; Matthew 14:23; Job 23:10; © Copyright 2013 by Shadow Mountain Ministries I Peter 1:6-7; James 1:2-4; Hebrews 13:5b-6 2100 Greenfield Drive, El Cajon, CA 92019 www.shadowmountain.org/smallgroups 619.440.1802 Getting Started 3. “When you have a mountaintop experience, don’t be surprised if it is followed 1. What was your favorite class in school? What was it about this class that you by a time of testing.” How has this been true in your life? When has life been enjoyed? What about your least favorite class in school? Why didn’t you like going fantastic and then a challenge seemed to immediately follow that great this class? This question helps the group get thinking about school and time in your life? What was your experience like? Something else you can ask classes. We’ve all been to school, so it’s something we can all talk about. But, is, “Are you surprised when this happens?” What is the surprise experience this question also gets everyone ready to move into the next question that like? Surprise does different things to different people. Some people feel deals with the tests we took in school. unsafe and insecure with surprise, while others feel challenged, energized and excited by surprise. Another way to draw this question out is to ask about the up-and-down rhythms of life. How do you “ride the ups and downs” of life? Are you like a surfer in the ocean or do you get seasick? 2. Tests are a part of school. Did you like or dislike tests? When it came to preparing for a test, were you a study-along-the-way student, or were you a cram-at-the-last-minute student? Some people like tests, studying and all that. Some people don’t. But, no matter who you are, you had to take tests in 4. We heard about three Biblical characters who experienced their own school. Some tests we looked forward to, other tests we did not. But, the point mountaintop victory followed by a test; Elijah, Jesus and Paul. Read the of this question was the preparation process for the test. How did you following passages and discuss how these people faced their tests mentally, prepare? Or did you prepare? emotionally and spiritually. Each person had a unique challenge and a unique response/reaction to that challenge. It’s great to see that even people in the Bible faced what we face. I Kings 18:20-40, 19:1-9 After Elijah’s victory on Mt Carmel, he was chased Digging Deeper down by Jezebel who was trying to kill him. What must it have been like for 1. Pastor Jeremiah said that God “conducts tests in our lives so that we will be Elijah to have been the victor on Mt. Carmel and then feel like the loser with prepared when the real emergencies arise.” Describe a past test (challenge or Jezebel? Would he have been a react-er or a responder? Or, maybe he was problem) that God gave you. What was going on in your life at the time of the just worn out from the drain of the Mt. Carmel experience. test? How did this test prepare you for something much bigger? You could use a 1-10 scale with this question. “On a scale of 1-10, how difficult was the test that God gave you?” Another 1-10 scale question could be, “On a scale of 1- Matthew 3:13-17, 4:1-11 (also Luke 3:21, 22; 4:1-13); John 1:29-34 After the 10, how would you have faced the much bigger challenge if God hadn’t given baptism of Jesus He was taken into the desert to be tempted by the devil. And you the test first?” this experience is great to help us remember that even Jesus had ups and downs in his life. While we may not be drawn out into a literal desert, each of us has faced spiritual and emotional deserts in our lives. 2. We don’t know when we’re going to take the next test in our lives. How do you react to a test when it shows up? What is the first thing you do? What 2 Corinthians 12:1-12 After Paul’s vision of heaven, he was given a thorn in thoughts enter your mind? What feelings enter your heart? Who do you talk the flesh. What is your “thorn” in the flesh? What part of your life seems to to? You could even ask, “Are you a react-er or a responder to tests?” Reacting always be there, even after asking God to take it away time and time again? tends to be an emotional response while responder leans more toward a thoughtful response. Everyone responds differently in different situations, but each of us generally falls into a react-er or a responder. .
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