From Pastor Andrew’s Desk
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Greetings FCCBers,
Well, I feel as though I am still drying out from a very wet Sunday at the Topsfield Fair! Oh Lord, Your ways are not our ways. Admittedly, the Lord and I had some conversations mid-way through the service. But I am grateful for His amazing grace through those times as He calmed and prepared my heart to preach in the rain. It was a struggle, but also a joy. I was encouraged by the great turnout. We had well over 100 people there and many new people from town plus others who showed up! Thanks to all for reaching out and inviting friends and neighbors. I believe some of those who came to the Fair service plan to come to an FCCB Sunday soon. Please be praying for the follow up efforts. Also, I was grateful that we had a good, faithful crew at FCCB. Great that Pastor Tom Fagan was able to bring the Word. Speaking of Tom, please be praying for him and for Kori as they get married this Saturday in Connecticut…very exciting! Obviously, we won’t be seeing them for awhile as they will be off to their honeymoon, heading to Disney World – sounds like fun! This Sunday will be a wonderful Sunday of worship. Steve Kercher will lead our contemporary worship. He led worship at North Shore Community Baptist for many years and lives in Ipswich with his family. It will be nice to have him with us. Also, my parents will be with us (my father is in town for the Gordon-Conwell Board meeting) and they look forward to seeing all of you again. My father will assist in the Sunday School class at 9:00 am in the Coggin Room as we continue in our focus on prayer! Rev. Dr. Tom Pfizenmaier will be leading our time in Sunday School on seeking solitude and the presence of God in the Word and prayer. You won’t want to miss this time as both of them lead us! Our new preaching series on ‘worship’ begins this Sunday for a six week period. I look forward to seeing what scriptures God will use and His timing in my preparation for the series.
The passage this Sunday is Matthew 14:22-36; 15:1-9, where Jesus walks on water. Verse 22 begins with Jesus sending the disciples into the boat while he dismisses the crowd. Then our Lord gets alone to pray (v. 23). Meanwhile, the boat drifts far away (v. 24). “During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake (v. 25). You know, just a casual stroll on water :). The understated way of the description of miracles in the Bible is one of the greatest demonstrations of its veracity and authenticity. I mean, if I was going to write my fake religious book I would say Meanwhile, the disciples were overwhelmed with fear (v. 27) by this occurrence of Jesus walking on water (as I think all of us would be)! Peter speaks up and says “Lord, if it’s you, tell me to come to you on the water.” Jesus responds by asking Peter to come. Then Peter begins to walk toward Jesus on the water. This is trust. Peter senses the call and begins to step out in faith and walk on water also. What a moment this must have been. Never before or since, has a mere mortal walked on water. Yet, verse 30 says that Peter
“saw the wind.” When he saw the wind, he was afraid and began to sink. He cried out, “Lord, save me!”
It was not until Peter averted his gaze that he began to sink. Of course, this relates to our lives. So many real things- like the wind and waves can easily divert our gaze from Christ and cause us to sink. What are those things that cause this challenge in your life?
Are they worry, addiction, job challenges, etc?
We can forget in these moments of great concern that the Lord is with us. He is there for us. “Immediately Jesus reached out His hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?” (v. 31).
Jesus wanted Peter to trust and to keep trusting. He wants that for us, as well. I cringe even as I write this, knowing how hard it is to trust Him in all things. But also, simultaneously, learning to really believe is wonderfully freeing. May He show us more and more day by day what that abundant life in Him really does mean! It is much more than giving a general assent to believing in Jesus. It is a further step to find the crazy joy of stepping out of the boat and experiencing the great adventure of walking with the Lord. Even when we are in the midst of great unknown and stormy seas and winds. As the author and pastor, John Ortberg, titled one of us his books so aptly: “ you are never going to walk on water unless you get out of the boat.” Amen! When Jesus and Peter climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Nature once again shows its subservience to Jesus Christ, the Lord of all creation. After they get into the boat, those who were in the boat worshiped Him saying, “Truly you are the Son of God” (v. 33).
Wow, to encounter the living God in the flesh! Up until this point many of the disciples were getting a better sense of who Jesus was. First of all, they absolutely knew He was worth following. After all, they dropped their nets, left their tax collector booth, etc. Then they witnessed him heal, teach and demonstrate His power. This showed that He was utterly unique like a profound prophet. At that point however, many of them were still not fully grasping who Jesus really was. But now it was abundantly clear.
Worship could be simply defined as: “acknowledging and praising God for who He truly is: the Lord!” That is a definition of worship that I just thought of. He is worthy of all praise and honor! “Reverent honor in seeing the magnitude of His holiness and love and worshipping Him in His rightful place as God of all creation” is another way of describing worship that comes to my mind. How would you describe worship of your Lord? Maybe write some sentence descriptions. It certainly helped me expand my view of what it means to worship God and most importantly, who I am worshipping. The disciples had a spontaneous response to worship Jesus after witnessing this incredible “walking on water” miracle accompanied by this powerful profession of faith, “Truly, you are the Son of God!”
This is true worship. We worship Jesus Christ – for His is the name above all names. Jesus continues to demonstrate His power by healing many people in the next verses. I’ll also touch on Chapter 15 this Sunday because it shows a stark contrast to what we have just seen in true worship. The Pharisees and teachers of the law come to Jesus from Jerusalem and ask, “why do your disciples break the tradition of the elders? They don’t wash their hands before they eat!” Wow. Would these comments of utter pettiness by the Pharisees have been disheartening for the disciples who had just seen the Lord walk on water and had just truly worshipped Him? The Pharisees worshiped rules, control and “how things looked.” They were blinded and lost in their sin, asserting they had it all figured out and that Jesus and His disciples were deluded. Then Jesus speaks from 3-7 about the law and its proper place of being fulfilled in Him. But the Pharisees “nullified the Word of God for the sake of their tradition” (v. 6). Their tradition supercedes God Himself. There are many dead religious practices. What a great temptation for people to have go through all the motions of “sit, kneel, stand” etc, and in the midst of this to have hardened and distant hearts from God. Jesus states, Lord, please protect us all from such empty “worship.” We see such a contrast in chapter 14 and chapter 15, maybe the true worship and false worship in 14 and then 15. May our hearts grow focused on worshipping the living God and die to any sort of empty “religiosity.” His grace abounds!
Hope to see you this Sunday as we worship the living God!
Blessings,
Pastor Andrew |
