Celeste Contreras: Welcome to the Sandals Church podcast. My name is Celeste, and I am part of the team here at Sandals Church. We are so happy to have you join us today as we listen to this message with pastor Adam Workman teaching from our gospel of Matthew series. If you've enjoyed our content, consider leaving us a rating to help this podcast reach more people. But for now, let's get into the message.
Pastor Adam Workman: Hey, so a few years ago, my wife planned an incredible day for my birthday. And it was capped off by an early dinner overlooking the water. And man, the sun was out. It was spectacular. She looked beautiful.
The whole setting was just perfect. Like what could go wrong, right? Well, during dinner, I look out over the water and I see these gray storm clouds kind of starting to form. And I kind of just wonder out loud, I hope they're not coming this direction. And in a matter of moments, in a matter of moments, man, those clouds turned dark and they were right over top of us.
The sun was gone. The wind started swirling and there was a seagull. I'm not making this up. There was a seagull that was directly over our table like caught in an airstream and it's flapping its wings. It's trying to go, but it can't move.
It's stuck. I could have reached up and grabbed this bird and I wish I would have because the next thing I know it poops in my drink. And then it poops in the food that's on the table. And then it starts to rain. And now we got the bird, the poop, the wind, the rain, and it's like, you know what?
Dinner's over. We go back inside the restaurant, and I pay. And now we gotta get, we gotta get to the car. And the good news is that I parked right in front of the restaurant. The bad news is that when I was running to the car, Melody next to me, I fumbled the keys, they fall on the ground, and they land under the car next to my car.
So now, I'm on my hands and knees in the pouring rain trying to get my keys and Melody's on the other side of the car talking about, what are you doing over there? I'm getting drenched. What do you mean what am I doing over here? I decided to take a break. I'm trying to find shelter under the car.
I've lost my keys. I'm trying to find my keys. What am I doing? So then, get my keys, unlock the door, but get inside. And we just look at each other.
What just happened? How did we go from frolicking at the beach and enjoying a beautiful, beautiful day together to biting each other's heads off and just barking at each other? Man, a storm came. What are you like when storms come? Some storms that knock us over are like big storms.
Other storms that come, man, they could be like a gentle breeze that just blows us over. Like a bird pooping in your drink. DoorDash showing up late and forgetting the fries. The Amazon dude who delivers your package to the wrong house again. You're looking at the picture and you're like, that's not the front of my house.
When a storm comes, guys, when you get bumped, what spills out of you? Do you get angry? Do you get panicked? Fearful? Do you get irritable?
How do you wanna respond when a storm comes and knocks you over? Because the storms of life, man, they come at us so fast. How many of you say, man, I'm going through a storm? Whether big or small, I'm going through a storm right now. I'm facing a storm.
Here's what I know. Storms have the power to be both devastating and defining. They can terrify us, but they can also teach us. And today we're gonna look at a storm where Jesus is, in the middle of a giant storm. It's a story where Jesus is just smack dab in the middle of a huge storm.
So let's learn from Matthew chapter eight, starting in verse 23. Jesus just finished teaching. He's done a bunch of miracles. Now he wants to go to the other side of the lake with his disciples. So verse 23 says this, then Jesus got into the boat and he started across the lake with his disciples.
Many of these guys were experienced fishermen. Like this lake was their backyard. They're so used to being on this lake. They've taken this trip a dozen times going across the Sea Of Galilee. It's like you and me waking up in the morning and driving to work or driving to school.
This is completely normal. It's a normal day. Everything's okay. And then verse 24 comes. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a fierce storm struck the lake with waves breaking into the boat.
Man, isn't that how it goes sometimes? Man, sometimes storms, they just blindside us. You get that call, that diagnosis, that unexpected bill comes, that layoff. They come for everyone. They come for you, and they come for me.
And the reason that they do is because number one, there's no storm free life. There's no storm free life. Listen to verse 23. Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples. Jesus got into the boat and started across the lake with his disciples.
They were exactly where God wanted them to be and the storm still came. You can be right where God wants you to be in life and still face storms. Don't miss that. Somewhere along the way, we started believing that a relationship with Jesus is like following a formula. If we obey God, if we do the right things, God will bless us.
And his blessings mean that we can avoid the storms of life. We can avoid the hard stuff of life. Like, God, if you do your part, I'll do my part. Your job, God, is to keep me comfortable, to keep me happy, to keep me safe. I believe this for so long in my Christian life as I was a young person.
Man, I believe that God's gonna keep me happy and comfortable. And it didn't take long that I was disappointed with God, and I figured this Christian thing doesn't work for me. But where do we get that idea from? Where does that idea come from? Even Jesus even Jesus didn't live a storm free life.
Here's a verse I've never seen on bumper stickers or plastered on a t shirt. Jesus says this in John sixteen thirty three. He says, I've told you these things so that in me in me you may have peace. But in the world, guys, in the world in which you live, you will have trouble and you will have suffering. Because there's no formula to live life without a storm.
There's no easy pass. There's no lightning lane to skip the storms of life. And as much as we want might want the world to be Disneyland, it really isn't. So listen, so it's what we do in the storm. It's what we do when we're afraid that either makes us or breaks us.
And storms are hard enough on their own. It's difficult to get through a storm. But what makes them even harder is what we start to believe in the middle of a storm. Because the enemy loves, he loves to whisper lies in the chaos of our lives. He lies about God.
He lies about you. He lies about the storm you're facing. And one of the first thing he lies about and that he likes to throw at us is this, God's mad at you. The storm is punishment. You must have done something wrong.
God is angry with you. I spoke with someone, who's going through an incredibly, incredibly difficult time. And they said, like, why is God punishing me? I try to do I try to do everything right. Why is he punishing?
How do I get him to stop? Have you ever felt that way? Listen, there are times where we face the consequences of our choices and they're not pleasant. But God is not petty. He's not like storming around in heaven stomping his feet looking for someone to punish, to rub your nose in your poor choices.
No, man. God is endlessly forgiving. He's kind. He's gracious. And when he's walking around, he sees you with eyes of love.
It's the only way he can see you because he is love. And when God disciplines, listen, when God disciplines, it's always with grace. And it's always always always meant to bring us back to himself. Listen to the heart of God in Jeremiah thirty one three. This is the heart of God.
He says, I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love. With unfailing love, I have drawn you to myself. That's who he is. And that those words were spoken by him before the cross. Imagine how much God has done to demonstrate his love for you.
That's God's heart for you. But his love for you doesn't mean that life will be easy for you. Another lie that the enemy whispers is this, God can't be trusted. When the storm hits, like when it really matters, he's gonna let you down. You can't trust him.
I remember the first time we took, we took my my son Elijah to the ocean. He was like three years old. And I scooped him up, put him in my arms, and we started walking down to the water's edge. And the waves were like choppy, and this is the Jersey Shore guys, it's scary. You know, they were rough.
They break all different directions. There's people around everywhere, and I've got Elijah. And as I take a step into the water, he's just his his fingernails are are like ripping into my flesh. He's got me in a choke hold. He's holding me so tight.
And he says to me, dad, don't put me down. Dad, don't let me go. Dad, hold me, hold me. Man, what was he saying? He's saying, can I trust you?
Elijah didn't need like an explanation of wave physics or water density. He needed to know was I strong enough? Was I paying attention to him? Could he trust me? And I looked at him that day and I said, Elijah, I've got you, man.
You can trust me. You can trust me. Doesn't life feel scary to us sometimes? So many things happen in our life and just so quickly, life gets really, really scary. The doctor calls, the boss pulls you into the office.
There's so many things that can just make us fearful. But listen, have you learned that there is a God who is holding you and he's a better father than I will ever dream of being? And I would never let my son go. Your father is with you. He loves you, and he's saying to you, it's okay.
I've got you. You can trust me. I'm with you. Third lie the enemy likes to whisper is this. God's changed his mind about you.
He used to love you, but not anymore. Something's changed. And maybe you've experienced that in your life with people and you think God must be that way so the enemy tries to drive a wedge in your heart between you and God. Listen to what Paul says who faced a lot of storms in Romans chapter eight. Listen, let's just listen to these words.
He says, and I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither deaths nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither fears for today, nor worries about tomorrow. Not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or on the earth below. Indeed, nothing, nothing, nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus.
Nothing can separate you from his love. Not your mistakes, not your regrets, not your sins, not your storms, not your doubts. Nothing can separate you from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. And those promises, they are yours now. You don't have to chase after his love.
You don't have to beg him to stay, and he will never ever change his mind about you. Listen, during the storms of life, you have to remember who's in your boat. That's our second point. Verse 24 tells us that a fierce storm came, that the waves were breaking into the boat. It was about to go under.
And these guys, man, they are in like big, big trouble. Can you picture it? Imagine you're on that boat and get this. Verse 24 says, but Jesus was sleeping. What?
Can you sleep like this? I mean, the disciples are yelling, they're screaming, they're bailing water, the wind is blowing, the rain is pouring, and Jesus is snoring. Like what is going on, man? My wife could only dream of sleeping like this. And and I feel bad for her, I do.
Because she's trying everything to sleep at night. She's got this blanket, it's got to weigh 50 to 75 pounds. I try to reach my hand over there at night like slide it under, but I got no chance to slide. It's like a car is parked on top of her. She's got every supplement, lotion, potion, powder.
She's got everything at nighttime. Like she pulls out this basket of just stuff and she starts choosing what she's gonna take them. I rub something on my feet. Am I going to put something in water, am I going to drink something, what am I going to do tonight to follow? It's like CVS in our bedroom at nighttime.
And the room, the room has to be bitter cold, ice cold, man. I could see my breath. I wake up in the morning and there is frost on the windows. And the fan, it's not a fan, it's a seven forty seven and I don't know if we're going to sleep or if we're taking off from LAX, Complete darkness, it's like deep space in our room. And if I breathe wrong, if I roll over a little bit too aggressively, I hear, could you be quieter over there?
I'm gonna be up the whole night. But here's Jesus and he's sleeping. And guys, isn't that how it feels in life sometimes? Life hurts. The waves are crashing all around us and it feels like Jesus is asleep.
So the disciples do what you and I would do, I guess. Verse 25, the disciples went and woke him up shouting, Lord, save us. We're gonna drown. In fact, the gospel of Mark says that the disciples say, do you even care, Jesus? Have you ever asked that question to Jesus?
Do you even care? Like, what's the deal? We're exhausted. The waves have been crashing into the boat. It's pouring.
We've been bailing water. And by the way, Jesus, we can't walk on water. Why are you sleeping? What are you doing? Do you even care?
And listen, this is why so many people give up on their faith. They deconstruct. They give up on God because he didn't come through the way they thought he would, when they thought he would. He doesn't care, so they bail. When I was, around eight years old, I went into the hospital to get my tonsils taken out.
And before they did the surgery, they needed to give me a couple shots. So this nurse leads me into this room, tells me to go face down on this gurney type bed. And, I'm in a hospital gown, so the cheeks are out. You know what I mean? And I don't like shot who likes shots?
I don't like shots to start with and she's over there getting her concoction together. She starts walking back toward me and, and I see these needles, two of them. This is back in the day when needles were the size of chopsticks. They're like drinking straws. They're not the nice little thin needles that we get today.
And then it dawns on me as she's walking back to me. This lady's gonna stick those needles in my butt. And I just gotta tell you, your boy ain't going out like that. I'm gonna tell you right, there is not a chance in the world this woman is putting those needles in my butt. And so I do exactly what I should have done.
I freak out. I freak out. So much so that she leaves the room and she comes in with five, six, seven people, no exaggeration. She's pulling people from like the lobby, passers by. Everyone's coming in to like hold this eight year old kid down so she can give them these needles.
And she's telling me, you gotta be still, you gotta calm down. Look, out of all the things that are gonna happen in the next three to five minutes, me calming down isn't one of them. It's not gonna happen. So I start freaking out even more, man. I start freaking out.
And as I'm freaking out, I look over to my left. I could picture it to this day, there's a giant window. Which is like first of all, why is there a window in a room where you're giving people shots in their naked butts? And then I look closer, and I'm looking. My dad is on the other side of the window looking in.
And I think to myself, my dad's gonna come to my rescue. So I start shouting and, dad help me, do you see what they're doing to me? Dad, dad. And as I'm screaming, listen, as I'm screaming for my dad to rescue me, the needles are plunging into my butt. My dad has a look on his face.
That's it's one of compassion. And in hindsight, you know, I now can can see that it was a look that said, Adam, I wish you could see the bigger picture. Like, I wish you could understand, Adam, why you're going through this, but I didn't see the bigger picture. I didn't understand why I was going through this. Listen to me.
I just wanted to be rescued. Some of you, man, you're on that table in that hospital room right now in life. And you're crying out to God that he would rescue you. And you're tempted to think that God doesn't see your pain, that he doesn't care, that he's ignoring you, that he's forgotten about you. But listen, whether or not whether or not he stops the storm, whether or not, you understand the big picture, whether it's in this life or the next life, your father isn't watching you from the other side of a window.
He is with you in your room, in your pain, in your heartbreak, in your heartache. He is with you, and you are not alone. Watch how Jesus responds as the disciples are freaking out. Jesus responded in verse 26. He says, Why are you afraid?
Jesus always comes through with these questions, doesn't he? Like this question kills me. Like if I'm there, Jesus, why are we afraid? We're afraid because we're all about to die Jesus. Is that not obvious?
And Jesus says in response, doesn't say in response. He says, you have so little faith. Ouch. You have so little faith. But get this, get this.
But even still, even with their doubt, their little bit of faith, even still, he got up and rebuked the wind and the waves and suddenly, as fast as it came, there was a great calm. And the calm wasn't only on the water, the calm was in their hearts. And I got to tell you, this verse gives me so much hope. I need this verse. I need this because it tells me that Jesus responds even to a little bit of faith.
Because man, look, sometimes I doubt. I have questions I don't understand. Sometimes our faith is small. And while small faith may be where we start, it's not meant to be where we stay. Peter, who was a guy on that boat that day with a little bit of faith, he goes on to write in second Peter one five, he says, make every effort to add to your faith.
Make every effort. Don't be passive. Don't be lazy about your faith. He says add to your faith. That's discipleship.
Jesus expects us to grow, to say yes to him, to obey him, to follow him. That's discipleship. And notice how the disciples were together in this because you can't grow as a disciple, as an individual on your own, all by yourself. It requires biblical community. If you're new to following Jesus, if your faith is fragile, if you've been a Christian for a long time but your faith has never grown, Jesus wants you he wants to meet you right where you are.
Not not where you wish you were, not where you pretend to be. He wants to meet you right where you are even if your faith is small. The disciples were real, and Jesus used that authenticity as an opportunity to challenge them while he cared for them. God wants to grow your faith, and one of the major ways that he will do that is through the storms of life. And it's in those moments when we feel overwhelmed, when the storms are hitting us hard, that what we really believe about God comes to the surface.
The disciples, man, it's clear what they believed about Jesus when the storm came and the same is for you and me. The disciples equated Jesus's sleeping with him not caring. Jesus equated the disciples panicking with them not trusting him. Because Jesus is saying like, I'm here. I've been here the whole time guys.
I'm in the middle of your storm. I'm in your boat. Trust me in the storm. Not just on the front of the storm, not just when the storm is up. Trust me in the middle of the storm.
It's almost as if these guys forgot who was in the boat with them. They've seen his miracles. They've seen him do things. They knew what Jesus could do, but they waited until the last minute before going to Jesus. And don't we do that too?
We panic. We bail water ourselves. We try to figure things out on our own. And then when everything else fails, as our last resort, we run to Jesus. Where do you run?
Where do you run when life hurts? When the storms come? Do you run to doubt, fear? Do you run to self reliance? If I'm not running to Jesus in a storm man, I'm probably gonna run to worry.
That's where I go. And I will sit on a big fat pile of worry and just sit there. What do you run to? Jesus wants us to run to him. And more than anything else, he wants you to experience his presence.
That's number three. Don't miss that. He wants you to experience his presence. About twelve years ago, I woke up, in the middle of the night with excruciating pain in my chest. It was like somebody had a blowtorch on my chest and on my back.
It was just incredibly painful. I knew something was really wrong, so I called 911, told them what I was experiencing, what was happening. A funny thing, I asked them not to put on the sirens or the lights because I didn't wanna scare my kids and wake them up and all this. I woke Melody up, she was sleeping better then. And, I chewed a couple aspirin because it felt like it was my heart.
And we went together and we sat on the couch and we waited for the ambulance. It came and took me to the hospital. Melody stayed with the kids. And I got there and the doctors and whatnot started to do a bunch of tests on me. A couple minutes later, the doctor walks in and he's looking at me with not a good look.
And he says, Mr. Workman, you're having a heart attack. And I thought something in that moment that I had never thought previously. And I thought to myself, am I gonna die? I was absolutely gripped by fear.
And when I thought that thought, two other thoughts came into my mind. I didn't get to say goodbye to my kids and who's gonna take care of my family. And I'm telling you, the moment those thoughts came to my mind, it was as if God simply just said to me, Adam, don't worry about them. I'm gonna take care of them. And as I started to pass out, God, I felt God speaking his word over me.
I heard, I will never leave you. I will never forsake you. Your darkest moment. Nothing could ever separate you from my love. I think there's a bigger miracle the disciples missed.
In fact, I think the disciples settled for a lesser miracle on the boat that day. And look, if I were one of the disciples, I promise you, I would have asked Jesus because I ask questions. Like Jesus, why would you say we have a little bit of faith? Like why are you saying we have little faith? We came to you for help.
Like, know it took a while, but we still believe that you could do something to save us. Why say we have a little bit of faith? And I think Jesus would have responded and said, you wanted to be rescued from the storm. I wanted you to rest in the storm. You wanted to experience my power.
I wanted you to experience my presence. I was showing you how to handle the storms of life. What if in that moment in the middle of the storm, when the disciples saw that Jesus was sleeping, they said to each other, if he's not worried, why should we be worried? Let's go take a nap. Could you imagine?
Paul wrote in Philippians four:six, he said, do not be anxious about anything. Not the storm, not the bad news, not what might happen. Don't be anxious about anything. God wants our faith to grow to a place where we have learned to value his presence as much as we learn to value his power. That we will learn to value his rest as much as we learn to value his rescue.
Jesus, even if this boat goes under, I trust you. That's the bigger miracle. Imagine being able to rest with Jesus in his presence in the middle of the chaos and the storms of your life. I read once about a little kid who was locked in a bathroom. He was at his grandparents house.
They had these big old wooden doors and he got stuck in there. He couldn't get the handle open. So he starts to yell, get me out of here, let me out. His dad grabs the ladder, climbs up to the Second Floor, walks into the room, goes past the little boy, uses his big dad strength and opens the door. And the little boy says, thanks dad, runs out and goes to play.
And sometimes God does that for us. Man, listen. There are other times where God chooses it best to climb into the window and instead of walking past us and opening the door, to sit down next to us in the locked room in our store, giving us the gift of his presence. Some of you are locked in that room right now and you're screaming, let me out. And God's looking at you and he's saying, let me in.
Let me into your heartache, your anger, your sadness, your doubts, your loneliness, your questions, and watch what I can do. Let me in. So Jesus, he calms the storm. In verse 27 says, the disciples were amazed. When was the last time you were amazed at Jesus?
Who is this man? They asked. Even the winds and the waves obey him. These guys learn things about Jesus that they never would have learned without a storm. There are things in your life that God wants to teach you about yourself, and more importantly about him.
But you cannot learn them in the calm. And he wants you to know him in the deepest ways imaginable. And Jesus knew that harder storms were ahead for these guys. In fact, most of them died as martyrs for their faith. And I wonder if that night with Jesus transformed the way they approached future storms.
If you're in a storm right now, what is God teaching you? About himself? About yourself? What are you learning? Because he knows what lies ahead of you.
Don't waste your storms. Experience his presence and the rest of Jesus. So after the procedure they did to to fix, to stop my heart attack essentially, I was in the Recovery Room, and I had so many questions. I had so many thoughts. I had so many feelings.
I'm laying in bed and a friend just comes into the room. He never said a single word to me. He came into the room, he stood by my side, He put his hand on my hand, and he just stood there. He gave me the gift of his presence. I'd like to ask you to stand if you would.
But if you're in a storm right now, if you're in a storm, no matter how big or how small, would you just be seated as a way of choosing to rest in Jesus? As a physical gesture to say, I'm gonna rest in Jesus. And if you're standing next to someone who's sitting, would you just extend a hand in their direction or maybe put a hand on their shoulder as a way to give them the gift of your presence? And the next time a storm comes, the next time you're facing a storm, before you run to anything else, would you choose just to remember to sit down and rest with Jesus? God, I pray that you would calm our storms, but more importantly, that you would calm our hearts and allow us, God.
Would you allow us to live in and experience the rest of Jesus? And it's his powerful and beautiful name we pray. Amen.
Pastor Fredo Ramos: Man, what an absolute word for us to receive today. And our hope and prayer is that wherever you are at, if you are in a storm that you would learn to rest in it. To not just ask to be rescued, but to experience the rest of Jesus. And we wanna also come alongside you. Same way that man came alongside Adam and his story.
And so wherever you are at, wherever you're maybe watching this from, if you are in a storm, I wanna encourage you to reach out to us. You can do so by going to sandalschurch.com/help, select the online campus and someone from my team or even myself will reach out to you and ensure that you get the gift of presents this week. Also, for those of you who are watching, I want to encourage you to realize like we don't just kind of push these messages out of the hope of Jesus, but we actually do so with support to hope to actually connect with people. And so if you are someone who benefits from the work that we are doing here at Sandals Church, would you pray about supporting our work? To do that, you can go to sandalschurch.com/support.
Grace and peace, we love you guys and we'll see you next week.
Morgan Teruel: Thank you so much for tuning in today. If you want more content from this series, we have a YouTube playlist linked in the description. And if you want more information about who we are and what we do, you can go to sandalschurch.com.