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Good morning. It's January 13th, and this is Blake Wilson, Lifeline's vice president of operations. It's hard to believe it's 2025. It is so good to be with you guys kicking off this new year, and I cannot, again, I cannot believe that 2024 went by so quickly, and here we are together in 2025. We're gonna continue in our study of John this morning and looking specifically at the miracle of Jesus walking on water and then calming calming the storm as well.

And this is one of the stories and miracles that is written about in 3 of the 4 gospels. So we see this today, we're gonna be studying in the book of John, John chapter 6. We also see this in Mark chapter 6, and then we see it again in Matthew 14. And I think what's interesting is the level of detail of which you see the different writers write. I I know when you look through the harmony of the gospels and you can compare and contrast, it is very clear about the author's writing style.

Some are a lot more detailed, which is what you see a lot more in Matthew and in Luke. You know, John seems a little more condensed and a little more matter of fact. I would say if I was if I was a a a writer, I would probably be a little more factual. I think my wife would agree to that as well. Less detail, more facts, and let's move on.

I think that's what we see in John's writing today. It's just a little 6 short verses about this. Matthew goes into a lot more detail. Oh, let's say Mark adds some detail, and Matthew even takes it to the next level in sharing about Peter and how Peter walked on water with Jesus, which was you put yourself in the situation in the boat with the disciples. How in the world did John leave that?

His detail out that Peter got out of the boat, walked on water with Jesus. Jesus rescued him from sinking because of his doubt, and they got back in the boat. It's just again, that's what I love about the gospels is putting them together so we are able to see a complete picture from different perspectives of what happened. And, again, this is one of the few that is written about in 3 of the 4 gospels. So I'm gonna read John chapter 6 just because this is what we're doing as a ministry together.

He's walking through the book of John, but I think we'll spend some more time looking in the details of what we learned from Mark and Matthew as we study this together. So John 616 through 21 says when evening came, his disciples went down to the lake, where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum. By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them. A strong wind was blowing, and the waters grew rough. When they had rowed about 3 or 4 miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat walking on water, and they were frightened.

But he said to them, it is I. Don't be afraid. Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading. You know, there's a lot to unpack even in those short six verses, you know, and I can't help but think through, you know, what they what they saw as Jesus was walking walking on the water, beside them, you know, seeing this, obviously being terrified in the middle of a storm, have, you know, no context of what's going on, fearful for your life. But when you read through Mark, he shares a few more details that I I think are important that I wanna touch on.

This is Mark 6 45 through 52. I'm not gonna read the entire passage, but a couple highlights is verse 45. We'll come back to this. It says, immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat. So he gave them instruction to get into the boat and go ahead of him to besetah, while he dismissed the crowd.

This this miracle of Jesus walking on the water and the and the calming of the storm happened right after the feeding of the 5,000. So they just fed the 5,000. I'm sure the disciples were in awe and they were stunned of what had just happened. Jesus immediately made his disciples get into a boat and go. Like, I don't know how you process information.

I am an internal processor. I need some downtime to think through how maybe events have just happened and to digest them. These disciples, I mean, they just saw the feeding of the 5,000, picked up 12 extra baskets of food. Jesus tells them to get in the boat, go across, and then they're hit by a storm. I mean, there's so much that was happening that I'm sure the disciples were completely overwhelmed.

But Jesus what Mark tells us is that he sent the disciples away, but yet he went up to the mountainside to pray in verse 46. So he left them. He was on the mountainside praying, and the boat left and was in the middle of the lake is what 47 tells us. But I think what I love about Mark's rendition of this story is that in verse 48, it says, he saw the disciples straining at the oars because the wind was against them. Shortly before dawn, he went out to them walking on the lake.

So he was on the mountainside praying, but verse 48 tells us that he saw his disciples straining at the oars. What John told us that they were they had been rowing for 3 to 4 miles. So it's easy to say that this was well beyond visual sight. And to me, this is a reminder of Jesus' omnipresence, that he sees us, that he is with us, that though he was not physically there, he saw them, he was aware of their heartache, he was aware of what they were struggling with, and the wind, and the rain, and the storm, and then he set out to be with him on the lake. God is with us, and I love what Mark cheers about that.

He saw them, that he sees us in our trials, that he sees us in our storms. And then the rest of the story is fairly similar. But in Matthew, he takes it to another level. And and from the timing standpoint, this is Matthew 14, and the and the story is written in verses 22 through 33, so over 10 verses. Matthew shares that it was shortly before dawn that Jesus went out to them walking on the lake.

So we know he fed the 5,000, dismissed them. They've been rowing for 3 to 4 miles. It's shortly before dawn. We can put these different passages together and understand these guys had been rowing for a very long time. I don't know if you've ever tried to row a boat or maybe even at the gym, you've done the rowing machine.

It's exhausting. And trying to fight that and be, you know, thunder and lightning and wind and rain, I mean, all of the factors that were at play. And these these guys were exhausted physically, and I'm sure just were were ready to be on the other side. And Matthew shares that they saw Jesus coming, and they thought that it was a ghost, and they cried out in fear. And Jesus immediately responded to them.

He knew remember, and Mark told us he saw them, he was aware of those. He immediately said to them in verse 27, take courage. It is I. Don't be afraid. I love his reassurance that you that you read in verse 27 of just consoling them, of comforting them.

Don't be afraid. It is I. Peter responds in verse 28, and this is the part that Mark and John leave completely out. Peter said, tell me to come to you in the water if it's you. Jesus respond, come.

Then Peter got out of the boat, he walked on the water, and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and he began to sink and cried out, Lord, save me. So immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. Oh, you of little faith, he said, why do you doubt? And he climbed to the boat and then the wind died down.

And those who were in the boat worshiped him saying, truly you are the Son of God. So Matthew shares the details of Peter getting out of the boat of just almost, you know, Lord, if it's really you, then let me get out. Show me that it's you by allowing me to walk on water as well. So these three gospels share the same narrative, but just add a little more detail based on the writer. But I think there's some consistency in here in what we can learn and what we can what we can glean from this passage.

And I think the first thing is there's gonna be times in our Christian walk that we're gonna face dangers and, life trials that are from the Lord's directive. He is going to put us in situations so that ultimately his glory can be revealed and his power can be shown. We're gonna see this again in John. I think it's John chapter 9 where Jesus heals the blind man, and and the audience and the crowd begins to say, like, who sinned? Was it this man?

Was it him? Was it his parents? And Jesus's response in John chapter 9, I think it's verse 3, says, it is not he nor his parents who sinned, but this happened so that my power could be revealed. So this circumstance happened at the directive of the Lord. In Mark 6 verse 45, he says, he made them get into the boat.

So this was at the Lord's direction. This this storm did not catch him by surprise. He told the disciples to get into the boat, go across the Sea of Galilee completely aware that the storm was going to come. This was at the Lord's direction. So we will face storms, maybe not physical storms, but storms within our life, trials, tribulations, circumstances that seem overwhelming to us, but those are going to be at the Lord's direction.

And we have to keep perspective and think through what is the Lord teaching us in this season of our life. It's not going to be easy. It's not gonna be fun, but the bigger picture is the Lord is teaching us, shaping us, molding us into something, and we have to be aware of what that what that could actually be. And I don't know what your response is when you face tough circumstances or you face storms. I go into overdrive and I try to take control of the situation.

I begin to just work harder, you know, and what what we see here even with the what the disciples shared, it talks about them straining at the oars. The ESV says they were painfully making headway. They just began to, what, paddle harder, tried harder physically exhausting themselves to overcome. That's the way I respond. I think that's probably the way most of us respond is when trials happen, we work very hard to fix the situation within our own strength.

But that is completely opposite of what the Lord tells us to do. Listen to Ephesians 6:10 from the writings of Paul. Finally, be strong in what? Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. And then verse 11 continues with the passage that we're all familiar with with the armor of God, but put on the full armor of God.

And we're not gonna read through all of that, but it is a reminder that it's not our own strength, it is the Lord's strength. Be strong in him. It is not what we can physically do to overcome the circumstance with a storm, is to be reliant upon him. Psalm 1831 says this, for who is beside besides the Lord? And who is the rock except our God?

It is God who arms me with strength and keeps my way secure. It is God. So when we are working diligently and physically exhausting ourselves to try to overcome or mentally or, like, whatever it may be, trying to overcome a circumstance or a storm in our life, let's keep perspective and be strong in the Lord because our strength comes from him. There's nothing we can do without him. He equips us for battle.

He makes our footing secure. It is through him where we find our strength. So I think we have to, again, keep perspective that the Lord is in complete authority and dominion over all of these storms in our life. I love the picture of a physical storm that is about to overtake the disciples, but yet it is literally under the feet of our savior, Jesus Christ. He is literally walking on the water.

He is walking on top of the storm that is about to overcome the disciples. He has complete authority and dominion over the wind and over the waves and the circumstances that these disciples are facing is under his feet. He has complete authority. He had told us this even in the great commission in Matthew 28. He he gives the great commission.

Right before that, he says what? All authority in heaven and on earth is mine. He is in complete control. He is sovereign, and all authority is his. So we have to recognize that he has has complete dominion and complete power over the storms that are in our life.

It could be at his direction, but he is still in control. But then, secondly, we have to invite him into the storm. How often do we just work and work and work and we don't even pause to pray and to invite the lord's hand of peace and protection to come in. We just keep paddling. Right?

We just keep rowing, doing our best, but we don't invite him into the storm. Guys, we have to stop and pause and invite Jesus into the storm. We saw what happened when when they invited I think that's a funny funny phrase. They invited Jesus into the boat. So they asked him to come in, he got into the boat, and as soon as he got into the boat, the storm ceased.

The waters grew calm. So when we invite him into it, I'm not I'm not here to tell you today that, you know, everything is going to get better. Right? I am not the Lord. I don't know his plans.

My plans are not his plans, and he has a greater picture and purpose. So if we if you are looking at your life and you're saying, I'm facing a trial, I'm facing a storm, I'm I am inviting Jesus to enter in and the wind and the waves are still raging, I don't know why. But I do know that some storms that you could be facing are at the Lord's direction and he has a greater plan and purpose and he's teaching you through it. So if we can accept that and embrace that and persevere through that, we will one day learn what the Lord was doing. But I think when we when we do see the Lord work and we invite him into our lives, the last thing is that we have to expect supernatural things to be accomplished.

What you see in John 6 21, what happened? They were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading. Jesus gets them to the boat. They were in the middle of the Sea of Galilee, and immediately, they were on the shore of Capernaum. Something supernatural happened when Jesus got into the boat.

Guys, when Jesus enters into the storms of our lives, we can expect something supernatural to take place. God is performing miracles today just like we saw the storm calm and him walk on water as we read through these gospels. The lord can do and will do supernatural things when we invite him to enter in our storms. I wanna close by just looking at Peter when he was doubting, and he was he was full of faith and saying, God, if it's you, invite me out. Let me walk on water to you.

So he did it. Jesus said, come. So you see Matthew's writing, Peter walking on water, but, ultimately, our faith will waver. And I think you see Peter's faith waver. He became scared, and when he became scared, he began to sink.

We are going to face fear. We are going to face doubt in the storms of our life, and there are gonna be times where we begin to sink. But who was there with Peter when he was wavering and he was sinking? Was Jesus. We see Jesus reach out to him in Matthew and Peter crying out, save me.

It says, Peter got out of the boat. He walked on the water and came toward Jesus, but when he saw the wind, he was afraid and he began to sink and cried out, Lord, save me. And immediately, Jesus reached out his hand. He caught him. In verse 31, he reached out his hand and he found, guys, Jesus is there with us.

He will reach out his hand and catch us when we fall, when we're fearful, when we're overcome with exhaustion and uncertainty. God, he is there just as he was on the mountainside praying, and Mark told us that he saw his disciples in the boat and they were fighting the storm, he is aware and he is with us and he is omnipresent. Let us find rest in that this week that he is near. He is near to us if we invite him into the storm. So let's evaluate our hearts, evaluate our struggles and our trials, and know that he is with us, invite him in to the struggles that we're facing, and expect supernatural things to happen because the same Jesus that we are reading about in these gospels is the same Jesus that we worship today.

We're gonna close out our time in prayer. Today, we're praying for our North Macedonia program, and just excited about what the Lord is doing through this program. It's a newer program. It's a it's a pilot program, so there's a lot of uncertainty there as we try to navigate what it looks like to to work with new a new central authority that we haven't worked with in the past, learning regulations, and just how to clearly communicate with our families on what to expect. So let's just pray that the Lord will use this program, that he'll work work through our staff on the ground and in country, to where we can see more children placed in loving Christian homes to where they can learn about the the saving hope of Jesus.

God, thank you for today. We thank you for your word and the encouragement that we hear in it. Lord, may we be reminded of your goodness and your faithfulness in the midst of trials, tribulations, and storms, and, Lord, rest that you are there and you are with us, that you see us, that you hear us. And, Lord, help us to remember to pause and invite you into the storms of our lives. God, we pray for, Macedonia North Macedonia and the program there.

We pray for our staff here, for the Eurasia team as they are working diligently to learn this program. Lord, we pray for our in country staff, even for the central authority there as we just learn the process to be quick to respond to our questions. And, Lord, also, as we develop these partnerships, and and move toward finding waiting children, that we can place in loving Christian homes, god. I just pray that your hand is over this. Lord, may we look back at even 2026, January of 2026 and be celebrating the homecoming of many children from North Macedonia.

Lord, we know that you can do whatever you want through this program, and we ask that you open up the floodgates, open up the doors to where this program can thrive, and we can see hundreds of children come home through this program, into loving Christian homes to where they can learn about who you are. So, father, we love you. We thank you for a new day, a new week, and, lord, a new year as we walk into 2025. May our eyes be focused on you and all that is said and done, and we ask these things in your name. Amen.

Thanks again for joining us for the Defender Bible Study. If you enjoy making this podcast a part of your weekly routine, we'd love for you to take a moment to subscribe, rate, and review the Defender Bible Study to make it easier for more people to find. For more resources and information on how you and your church can partner with Lifeline, please visit us at lifelinechild.org. Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter by searching for Lifeline Child. You can email us directly at info lifelinechild.org.

We look forward to seeing you again next week for the Defender Bible Study.