Shownotes
Chaos hits, even when you do everything right. The real tension is not in the storm itself, but in the haunting sense that maybe you’re alone, unseen, or failing.
Pastor Kevin reminds us that sometimes we're in the middle of a storm, not because we made a wrong turn, but because we’re right where God called us to be. This is where peace is no longer defined by external calm, but by knowing who sits beside you when the waves rise.
Through raw stories, honest confessions, and a moving testimony, you’re invited to let go of self-reliance and find your belonging in God’s presence. Your struggle is not too messy. Your weakness is not a disqualifier. Here, storms can become proof that you’re being held and not abandoned.
Come see what it’s like to change anxiety into steady confidence—and to let your faith spread to everyone around you.
Scriptures Referenced
Exodus 33:12-15; Psalm 46:1, 46:10; Isaiah 43:2; Mark 5:25-41; John 16:33
Key Insights
- Peace is found in the presence of the Lord.
- It’s much better to be in the storm with Jesus than to be in the calm without Him.
- Storms reveal trust issues.
- Preparation feels unnecessary until survival depends on it.
- The storms in your life don’t have the final say.
Key Sections
00:00:00 - Embracing Real Presence
Peace has less to do with calm surroundings and everything to do with who’s actually with you. Notice what shifts when presence—not perfection—becomes your anchor.
00:16:40 - Storms Are Not Isolation
Pastor Kevin unpacks how your hidden battles aren’t as isolating as they feel, and how faith is never a solo endeavor.
00:39:40 - Hands Raised in Weakness
Raw honesty is not weakness. What if your gibberish prayers or silent cries are the very thing that moves heaven? Discover a posture of surrender that changes the whole atmosphere.
https://springhouse.captivate.fm/episode/arise-in-the-midst-of-the-storm
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Gathering Times
- Sundays, 9:00 AM
- Sundays, 11:00 AM
- Thursdays, 6:00 PM
Contact Info
Springhouse Church
14119 Old Nashville Highway
Smyrna TN 37167
CCLI License 2070006
Transcripts
Well, good morning, friends. Happy Mother's Day.
Speaker:We have the most incredible moms here at Springhouse, do we not?
Speaker:Who believes that? Yes. Amen.
Speaker:Amen. Most incredible moms in the house. We are so
Speaker:grateful for our mothers.
Speaker:A couple of things before we get continue to
Speaker:roll here. First, you may notice there were some
Speaker:baked goods outside. The youth are going to be doing
Speaker:a camp. And here's the deal.
Speaker:They're selling those baked goods. But I'm believing a bit
Speaker:more in faith for this trip.
Speaker:Guys, we need 40 people to sponsor 40 teams.
Speaker:That's really what we need. We need 40 people to sponsor. So if you're looking
Speaker:for a way, and some of you, as of this week came to me and
Speaker:said, is there a way that we could sow somewhere?
Speaker:I'm letting you know we got 40 teens who would like to go to camp.
Speaker:And if you'd like to sponsor a teen, you can see Pastor Doug
Speaker:back there in the back. Pastor Doug or Jody, and they will get you
Speaker:connected and get you all that information. And that's what that's for out
Speaker:there. And you can spot your team and walk away with some cookies today. Okay,
Speaker:so there's some. There's benefit there. And
Speaker:then also VBX registration is now open.
Speaker:And so if you have a child that would want to participate
Speaker:in that, you can scan that code or go on our church app and
Speaker:register for that. Okay. All right, so we're gonna continue along
Speaker:in our Arise series. And man, I
Speaker:am just growing just each day. I'm growing each
Speaker:week. As we are continuing to go forward in this. Would you guys
Speaker:stand with me? We're gonna read what I hope to be a familia story
Speaker:in scripture from the book of Mark. And
Speaker:we're also going to read a verse from Psalm. Now you're going to see in
Speaker:Mark 4 that there is this term furious squall.
Speaker:And I think that's fitting for Mother's Day. I
Speaker:would like you to read as if you're crying out for your mama. Okay, here
Speaker:we go. That day, when evening
Speaker:came, he said to his disciples, let
Speaker:us go onto the other side. Leaving the
Speaker:crowd behind, they took him along. Just
Speaker:as he was in the boat, there were also
Speaker:other boats with him. A furious squall
Speaker:came up and the waves broke over the boat
Speaker:so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was
Speaker:in the stern sleeping on a cushion. The
Speaker:disciples woke him and said to him, tell teacher,
Speaker:don't you care if we drown? He got up,
Speaker:rebuked the wind, and said to the Waves. Quiet,
Speaker:be still. Then the wind died down and it
Speaker:was completely calm. He said to his disciples,
Speaker:why are you so afraid? Did you still have
Speaker:no faith? They were terrified and asked each
Speaker:other, who is this? Even the winds and
Speaker:waves obey him. God is our refuge
Speaker:and strength and ever present help in trouble.
Speaker:Father, I thank you that you are an ever present help in times
Speaker:of trouble. And I just pray, Lord, today, that your Holy Spirit would
Speaker:speak to our hearts, that you would transform us from the
Speaker:inside out. And Lord, that we would surrender what we brought into this place
Speaker:to you in Jesus name. And everybody said amen.
Speaker:Well, yes, it is
Speaker:Mother's Day. And you know, there's something
Speaker:uniquely powerful about a
Speaker:mother's presence. A mother carries
Speaker:storms. A mother carries storms different than
Speaker:the rest of us do. And I feel like I've got some authority to
Speaker:speak about mothers because I've had one for over four
Speaker:decades and I've also lived with one for 16.
Speaker:So I am not a mother, in case that was a question. I'm not a
Speaker:mother, but I feel like I've got just a little bit of authority on
Speaker:watching mothers do that mothering thing.
Speaker:And mothers carry storms differently than the rest of us do.
Speaker:Mothers often carry pressure nobody sees. They
Speaker:hold families together while quietly carrying
Speaker:burdens themselves. They pray while exhausted,
Speaker:nurture while hurting, continue showing up even when
Speaker:their tank is empty. A mom never
Speaker:stops being a mom. A
Speaker:mom never. I see a lot of nodded heads. A mom never stops being
Speaker:a mother. Can be carrying internal storms very
Speaker:simultaneously becoming peace for
Speaker:everybody else in the house. And most of the time,
Speaker:and most of the time, what they've got going on as
Speaker:they juggle their own life is they've got the lives of
Speaker:bunches of other people in their life. And
Speaker:for most people, it's not just the children, it's that person
Speaker:she's sleeping next to as well.
Speaker:A mother can be carrying internal storms by simultaneously being peace for everyone
Speaker:in the house. And for most of us, mom taught us something very
Speaker:foundational, and it's this, that safety
Speaker:comes from presence. Safety
Speaker:comes from presence. Children may not understand
Speaker:how to fix it, where to go, what to do,
Speaker:but they understand presence. Many of you know that
Speaker:Shari and I operate a school down the road. And you know,
Speaker:when our kids started going through and they were school age, I carried
Speaker:initially this mentality that our kids are gonna obey all
Speaker:the rules. Like, we're not gonna be like this exceptional
Speaker:thing to the rule. You know, they're gonna. The kids are supposed to be in
Speaker:line they're gonna be in line, et cetera, et cetera, and on the cuff. That
Speaker:probably seems like a right vein, but the Lord really convicted my heart
Speaker:about two or three years in because my kids would wanna break line and
Speaker:give me a hug, and I wouldn't let them. And the Lord
Speaker:said, the beauty about where I've placed you is that your kids get to be
Speaker:in your presence. And so I remember going to the faculty and
Speaker:saying, here's the deal. I know that you all don't see the late
Speaker:nights, the sacrifices, all of the things that happen to make this thing go.
Speaker:But I get to be around my kids and so do some of you. If
Speaker:my kid wants to break the line, give me a hug. I'm giving my kid
Speaker:a hug. Okay? And I still
Speaker:expect my kids to obey the rules, right? But I'm not gonna
Speaker:negate the fact that I'm. They're in my presence. That they're
Speaker:in my presence. Presence is powerful. Presence
Speaker:is powerful. God's greatest promise
Speaker:to us was never the absence of
Speaker:storms. His greatest promise was that he would
Speaker:be present in the midst of our storms. And so where I
Speaker:want to start today is peace is found in the presence
Speaker:of the Lord. Peace is found
Speaker:in the presence of the Lord. And some of you this
Speaker:morning are looking for peace. That's where you find
Speaker:it. That's where you find it.
Speaker:And now, presence isn't just about peace. Peace is what is found
Speaker:in presence. But presence also will
Speaker:mature us, especially God's presence. It will mature us. And I think
Speaker:about my mom and her presence in my life. She didn't just bring me
Speaker:peace. My mom also matured me. So I told the story a while ago,
Speaker:but I'll tell it again. You know, when I was in third grade, I was
Speaker:learning how to jump into the pool. All my friends were jumping into the
Speaker:pool. And I just couldn't. I couldn't muster up the strength or courage to do
Speaker:it. But I would get to the edge of that pool and I was like,
Speaker:mama, watch me. I'm gonna jump in the pool. And I would go, 1,
Speaker:2, 3, 4.
Speaker:And I wouldn't do it. And I'd get back at the edge and I would
Speaker:go, one, two. I'm gonna do it this time.
Speaker:No, I wasn't going to do it. And I went back up there again, and
Speaker:I was trying it maybe third or fourth time, and just like a great,
Speaker:comforting, wonderful, sensitive mother, she runs
Speaker:up behind me and pushes me in.
Speaker:Now, here's the thing. I got up out of that pool.
Speaker:And guess what I could do immediately jump in.
Speaker:I could jump in sometimes, Mamas.
Speaker:I mean push
Speaker:in times when pushing is needed.
Speaker:Many of us are familiar with this story. Mark, chapter four. The
Speaker:disciples are in the boat. A big storm
Speaker:comes. Jesus is sleeping. They wake up. Jesus,
Speaker:Jesus, don't you care about us? And he says,
Speaker:peace, be still. And we know that story and we've related it to storms.
Speaker:But, you know, as much as we think we know about this on the service.
Speaker:I want to go to four places here today, quickly, this morning
Speaker:that I believe would be things that maybe we miss when we skim
Speaker:over this story. So the first thing I want us to notice is
Speaker:this. Jesus said, let's go over
Speaker:to the other side. Let's go over to
Speaker:the other side. I think one of the first things we have to notice
Speaker:in this story is that the storm came
Speaker:after an act of obedience.
Speaker:The storm came after an act
Speaker:of obedience. Jesus said, let's go to
Speaker:the other side. The disciples said, yes, sir, they
Speaker:got in the boat, they were doing everything that the Lord had
Speaker:told them to do. And then the
Speaker:storm comes. In other words, we have got to get
Speaker:out of our mentality that every time a storm comes,
Speaker:it must mean that God is not in what we're doing.
Speaker:The first thing that we've gotta eliminate is understanding that
Speaker:storms at times are indicators or
Speaker:revealers in our life of not only God's mercy and grace,
Speaker:but of things that he's trying to illuminate in us. Especially
Speaker:when it comes to issues of trust.
Speaker:Many of us wrongly assume that storms mean that we missed God.
Speaker:And sometimes storms are not evidence that you're outside of the will of God.
Speaker:Sometimes those storms are evidence that you're smack dab right in the middle of where
Speaker:God wants you to be. So some of you
Speaker:today are walking through a season of disappointment and discouragement.
Speaker:How do I know that? Because some of you emailed me this week. You talked
Speaker:to me in the foyer. I know that there are people here that are struggling
Speaker:this morning. Some of you walked in struggling with a smile on your face,
Speaker:and you didn't share the struggle that you had. But you're struggling this morning.
Speaker:Here's the reason why I share that. Everyone in this room
Speaker:is either going through a storm or you will go through a storm
Speaker:at some point. So this message is really for everyone. Look at
Speaker:your neighbor say, this is for you.
Speaker:When you face hardship, uncertainty, loss, exhaustion,
Speaker:and maybe even warfare, the temptation in those
Speaker:storms is to assume that God abandoned us.
Speaker:Because difficulty arrived. But
Speaker:the presence of storms does not mean the
Speaker:absence of God. The presence of
Speaker:storms does not mean the absence of God. The disciples were
Speaker:exactly where Jesus told them to be. And
Speaker:here's the remarkable thing. He got in the boat with
Speaker:them. He did not send them out
Speaker:alone. And if you decide to click, clock out
Speaker:or think about lunch and you don't want to listen to anything else in the
Speaker:message, I'm going to tell you, this is what I want you to walk away
Speaker:with right here. It's much better to be in the
Speaker:storm with Jesus than to be in the calm without Him.
Speaker:It is so much better for you to contend with
Speaker:the waves and the wind of life with
Speaker:Jesus on your side, beside you, walking with you,
Speaker:than you to think that everything's okay because it's calm and
Speaker:want nothing to do with Him.
Speaker:I have been paying attention to over the last several months
Speaker:the thread of the Lord. Do you know that the Lord is
Speaker:always actively moving in your life?
Speaker:If you did not know, let your revelation be today that the
Speaker:God of the universe is moving in your life.
Speaker:And he has opened my eyes to see a thread
Speaker:of his steady, faithful hand in my life through people,
Speaker:through messages, through interactions, circumstances. I have
Speaker:seen how this connects to this, this connects to that. And he will
Speaker:do that by his grace, if you'll let him. So this past Thursday
Speaker:night, Pastor Jonathan started a new series here and I
Speaker:so encourage you to go back and listen to his
Speaker:message on Thursday night. It's one of four parts. And I encourage you to come
Speaker:this Thursday at 6 if you have the capacity. Such a powerful
Speaker:message. And I knew that this Sunday we would be talking I knew this Sunday
Speaker:we'd be talking about storms months ago. And here he comes and
Speaker:gives a message talking about the presence of. And
Speaker:I'm going, Lord, as many people as I talked to
Speaker:somebody real late last this past week going through a storm, I
Speaker:visited somebody in a cares facility going through a storm.
Speaker:So many people going through storms. The Lord knew for this
Speaker:time, at such a time as this, that he would bring a message about where
Speaker:do we run in the midst of suffering and storm. And it is always going
Speaker:to be to his presence. It's always going to be that his presence
Speaker:is where we need to be. And so Pastor Jonathan shares in
Speaker:this past message and I'm not going to share his message with you. I want
Speaker:you to go back and look at it. But he shares about his time of
Speaker:sabbatical and he shares about this thread that God is weaving that he
Speaker:didn't notice until he got into God's presence. And God
Speaker:revealed the reason why these things were happening to him. It was a
Speaker:phenomenal story. You should go back and listen to it. I also went on a
Speaker:sabbatical last year. And in my sabbatical and in the
Speaker:presence of the Lord, when I sought the presence of the Lord, what the Lord
Speaker:did to me is he revealed sin in my life. Do you know
Speaker:that the presence of God will illuminate places in your life that you need
Speaker:to change? And so he illuminated sin in my
Speaker:life on my sabbatical. And here was the sin, the specific
Speaker:sin that I was grappling with
Speaker:was that I was making people and other things my source
Speaker:and not Him. Now, guys, that was not a mistake.
Speaker:That wasn't a misstep. It was sin. Sin
Speaker:separates us from God. And anything that is your source outside of
Speaker:God is sin because it's an idol. And I
Speaker:had taken up and placed some people and some things
Speaker:in a position where I was drawing from them rather than
Speaker:drawing from the source of the God breather. And that is sin.
Speaker:And what sin does, in addition to separating us from the
Speaker:Father, it also has ripples of consequence. And those
Speaker:ripples of consequence can cost you resources, they can cost you time,
Speaker:and it can cost you relationships. But here's
Speaker:the neat thing about God. When I went into God's presence and he
Speaker:revealed that to me, it wasn't God saying, because you left me, I left
Speaker:you. He was saying, I've been here the entire time. You're the one who walked
Speaker:away. He said,
Speaker:kevin, I want to be your best friend. I want to be the
Speaker:source of your life. And I just walked in a month of repentance.
Speaker:And I said, God, I am so sor. Because he had always been a
Speaker:sufficient source. But I walked away from the source. And I
Speaker:wonder today if any of you are drawing from other wells and other
Speaker:sources than that of the Lord. He is a
Speaker:constant, steady source for you.
Speaker:So this brings me to the second place that I want us to go
Speaker:in this passage that you may not get on the cuff. And is this.
Speaker:There were also other boats with him. I
Speaker:didn't notice this. I don't think I've ever really paid attention to this until
Speaker:I was preparing for this message.
Speaker:It's significant because storms are rarely
Speaker:isolated. The storm was not
Speaker:isolated to just one boat. Sometimes we think we're the only
Speaker:ones struggling. My marriage is
Speaker:the only one carrying tension. My
Speaker:family's the only one that's fighting fear.
Speaker:I'm the only parent on the planet that's overwhelmed. Good
Speaker:grief. I'm the
Speaker:only person battling anxiety.
Speaker:I'm the only believer trying to hold on to faith. But I
Speaker:want you to know this morning that there are other boats, too.
Speaker:Other people are fighting unseen battles. Other
Speaker:mothers are carrying invisible burdens. Other families are trying to
Speaker:stay afloat spiritually. Other believers are learning to
Speaker:trust God in rough waters. Sometimes we feel isolated in our
Speaker:struggles. But there are other boats fighting the same
Speaker:waves, too. But here's what I want you to understand.
Speaker:The presence of Jesus in one boat
Speaker:affected all the boats. The presence of
Speaker:Jesus and his power in one boat affected all the
Speaker:other boats that are out there contending the waves. And let me tell you something,
Speaker:those of you who will remain faithful in the midst of the storm, that
Speaker:your faith will ripple into other people's lives. In other words,
Speaker:your faithfulness in storms will impact those around
Speaker:you. Your faith, your
Speaker:decision to lean in to the peace and
Speaker:the presence of the Lord will impact those around you. I remember
Speaker:when Covid came around, everyone was looking
Speaker:for leadership. Now, many times we look for the leadership that's gonna
Speaker:say the things we want them to say. But nonetheless, we're all
Speaker:looking for some type of leadership. When things get rocky, when things get
Speaker:scary, we're looking for leadership. And I certainly didn't nail
Speaker:it bat a thousand in that timeframe. But there were some
Speaker:places where I really felt like I heard from the Holy Spirit. And I remember
Speaker:people coming up to me way after Covid was over
Speaker:and saying the way that you handled yourself in the midst
Speaker:of that whole thing really ministered to me.
Speaker:And I'll tell you right now, I didn't make those decisions because I thought they
Speaker:were watching, but they were.
Speaker:When you have a storm in your life, people are
Speaker:evaluating how you're going to respond. Now,
Speaker:we don't respond based on fear of what other people think, but we need to
Speaker:be aware that there are other believers watching how we
Speaker:walk these things out. In other words, when I say I believe something,
Speaker:do my actions and my words actually match it when the rubber hits the road?
Speaker:And we're going to visit that point again in just a moment.
Speaker:Your stability affects others. Your obedience affects others.
Speaker:Your peace affects. Your worship affects others. Guys,
Speaker:I'm down here in this seat many times on Sunday morning. You may have not
Speaker:noticed, but you're going to notice it now that I'm going to tell you about
Speaker:it. But you'll see me turn around and I'll look and I'LL you see? Scan
Speaker:the room multiple times during worship. I do that for two reasons. One, I want
Speaker:to know if you're here and in the room.
Speaker:I'm taking attendance. No, I want to know if you're here and in the
Speaker:room. And when I say here in the room, I don't mean here in the
Speaker:cafe. I mean here and in the room. Second.
Speaker:Second, I'm looking across the room because some of you have shared
Speaker:personal, intimate details with me or a member of the staff.
Speaker:And then we will sing a song that ministers right to your heart.
Speaker:And I will look and I will see you worship.
Speaker:And let me tell you something, boy, that grabs my heart when the
Speaker:Holy Spirit of God has orchestrated something so wonderful
Speaker:on your behalf. When you come and receive a drink from his source
Speaker:and his well, man, that's supernatural things that I love
Speaker:to see that in people's lives. Your
Speaker:worship affects others. A faithful
Speaker:believer who weathers storms becomes proof to others
Speaker:that God is still faithful.
Speaker:The third thing I want us to see is this. The storm
Speaker:comes and the disciples are scared. Jesus is
Speaker:asleep. And I want us to understand that these
Speaker:disciples, they were fishermen. These
Speaker:fishermen were not brand new. They didn't arrive on the scene, like three days before
Speaker:they encountered Jesus. I mean, this was by trade. They were familiar
Speaker:with what it would have been to handle a storm.
Speaker:This was not their first storm. Which means that the storm
Speaker:illuminated something much more than bad weather.
Speaker:The disciples wake Jesus up to ask a very
Speaker:specific and revealing question. Now, it
Speaker:stands to reason that when they wake Jesus up, they would
Speaker:say, jesus, would you stop this storm?
Speaker:But that's not what they asked. That's not what they
Speaker:asked. We infer that from the story, and we see that Jesus
Speaker:did that in his grace. But that was not the question they asked. Here's
Speaker:what they asked. They said, teacher, don't you care if
Speaker:we drowned?
Speaker:When life becomes difficult, the first thing many people question
Speaker:is not God's power, it's God's heart.
Speaker:Do you care, God? Are you there,
Speaker:God? Do you see me,
Speaker:God? Have you forgotten me,
Speaker:God? Anybody ever asked one of those questions before?
Speaker:I know I sure have. And
Speaker:I think one of the greatest lies believers battle in storms is the
Speaker:fear that God has abandoned them.
Speaker:Here's the thing. Storms expose trust issues.
Speaker:A good storm will expose trust issues
Speaker:in your life because they
Speaker:reveal who and what we trust most. Now, here's the
Speaker:deal. Most people are not living In a Category 5 hurricane all
Speaker:the time. We are contending with those smaller
Speaker:daily storms. Most Storms are financial pressures,
Speaker:miscommunication, fatigue, fear,
Speaker:comparison, disappointment, uncertainty,
Speaker:relationship tension, raising children, raising
Speaker:children, raising children,
Speaker:mental exhaustion, feeling spiritually dry,
Speaker:carrying invisible burdens. But not every
Speaker:storm is massive. But some storms just
Speaker:slowly wear you down. Can I get an amen
Speaker:from the moms?
Speaker:Motherhood is often not one giant dramatic
Speaker:storm. It is thousands of
Speaker:unseen moments, Late nights, constant
Speaker:responsibility, emotional labor,
Speaker:worry, prayer, sacrifice,
Speaker:everyone else being carried while quietly carrying yourself.
Speaker:And I didn't realize that moms really were weathering all of
Speaker:this with my mom because I was a benefactor of her
Speaker:shielding me from what she was doing. I was a benefactor of the peace
Speaker:that she rendered. But I sure did see it by marrying my wife and having
Speaker:kids.
Speaker:And the number one thing I think moms contend with is I'm a
Speaker:failure. And I want to tell you
Speaker:today, moms, you're doing a great job.
Speaker:Moms, you're doing a great
Speaker:job.
Speaker:For every unseen moment, for
Speaker:every ungrateful heart posture, I want
Speaker:you to know that the Lord carries you because the
Speaker:word tells us that when we are weak, he is strong.
Speaker:And I understand for the others of us,
Speaker:when we get to compartmentalize our life, you are mom
Speaker:24 7. You don't hang that title up,
Speaker:and you're doing a great job. I want to encourage you to
Speaker:persevere, to keep on going, to keep running the
Speaker:race. I talked to a mom. I had an interaction with mom when I first
Speaker:walked in, and she said, well, my kids are much better than the mom that
Speaker:they had. And I said, well, isn't that the hope of all parents, that
Speaker:their kids would outrun them and do better than them? And that is a mark
Speaker:of an exceptional mother.
Speaker:Mom never clocks out. A mother carries the weight of
Speaker:storms, even when making the room feel safe. This is my mom.
Speaker:Moms have this way of
Speaker:letting you know, I'm not going anywhere.
Speaker:I remember a time in my life where I got incredibly
Speaker:sick. It was the sickest, I think, I've ever been in my life.
Speaker:And I didn't know what to do. I mean,
Speaker:I'm pretty strong. The O days are pretty strong when it comes to sickness. I
Speaker:mean, we're going to work. We're in it. I mean, all this stuff, but this
Speaker:took me out. I could barely lift my leg, and
Speaker:all I could do, I just started crying in the car. I literally couldn't
Speaker:even barely drive my car. And I just knew if I to my mama,
Speaker:if I could just get to mom. And I got home, and I
Speaker:drugged myself on that sidewalk. Up the stairs and I just collapsed in the
Speaker:stairs. Do you know that in my mind I didn't think about what my
Speaker:mama had going on. I didn't think about her calendar, I didn't think about the
Speaker:storms that she had. I didn't think about her schedule. I just knew that if
Speaker:I got to my mama, she would take care of things. And boy
Speaker:did she ever. She picked me up off that floor, got me in a bed,
Speaker:got me the medicines and the food that I want because she's mom.
Speaker:I could count on my mom. Guys, can I tell you something?
Speaker:If you can count on your flawed mother, you
Speaker:can count so much more on Jesus Christ. You can
Speaker:count on the Lord, this star
Speaker:breathing God. So when you get right down
Speaker:to it, the question we're really grappling with here in this Arise
Speaker:section of this series is this. Do you believe
Speaker:what you say you believe? Do you
Speaker:really believe what you say you believe? Because it's easy to talk about faith
Speaker:when things are peaceful. It's easy to talk about
Speaker:trust when there's not really an issue to deal with.
Speaker:Trust. It's easy to quote scripture when life feels manageable. But
Speaker:storms expose the authenticity of our
Speaker:dependence. And so this is why we can't
Speaker:jump from abide to advance. We've got to remain in this arise
Speaker:because we say we confess with our mouth and our heart.
Speaker:I want to depend on you. I'm going to abide in you. The Arise
Speaker:section is testing all of that. It's saying, are you really depending on
Speaker:him? And here are the ways. Kevin, Barbie,
Speaker:Keith, Justin, Eric, these are the ways you're not depending
Speaker:on me. And if we can get these non dependent or let's
Speaker:say independent areas cleaned up with dependence, then you'll be ready to
Speaker:fly when it comes to advance. You'll be ready to fly when it's
Speaker:time, when it's time to run. Jesus was
Speaker:not nervous about what scared the disciples.
Speaker:We often pursue explanations over
Speaker:presence. We want God to explain the storm
Speaker:and God wants to reveal his bigness
Speaker:within our storm. Josh, would you just come down front here and just share?
Speaker:Josh shared a dream with me maybe a year ago. I'm not sure, but I
Speaker:just wanted you to share because I thought it really related.
Speaker:You have this microphone. I wore this
Speaker:shirt today and I really don't like this shirt and it just doesn't
Speaker:fit exactly right. And so then Kevin is like, hey Josh, I want you to
Speaker:share something today. I'm like, oh, you should have asked mom, I got the wrong
Speaker:shirt. I should have asked Mom.
Speaker:It was probably 10 years ago when
Speaker:I had a deep concern for a friend of mine who had an
Speaker:addiction. And the addiction was long
Speaker:standing. It didn't seem
Speaker:very hopeful at all for my friend.
Speaker:And I was praying for them fervently. And I think I was
Speaker:fasting, I was praying. And one night
Speaker:in the middle of the night, I had a dream. And I
Speaker:was standing, like in a room, and it was like a really big
Speaker:room. And in this room there was a demon
Speaker:that was the most terrifying thing that I had ever seen. And
Speaker:it had wings and it was evil, and it was
Speaker:humongous. It filled the entire room.
Speaker:And I was just terrified. I was like, God, what?
Speaker:Like, this is the thing that I'm praying against. I am not big
Speaker:enough for this fight. This is an unfair fight. I am terrified.
Speaker:And for whatever reason, in my dream, I turned around,
Speaker:and when I turned around, I saw like a boot.
Speaker:And I looked at the boot, and the boot was connected, like to a
Speaker:leg. And then the leg looked up, and I looked up and there was like
Speaker:a skyscraper sized angel.
Speaker:And in front of me was this demon that was the size of a room.
Speaker:And on this side there was a skyscraper side
Speaker:angel, and it was bright white and it had a huge
Speaker:sword. And then it panned out and I
Speaker:saw thousands and thousands of
Speaker:angels. And I looked at this
Speaker:thing compared to what was behind me,
Speaker:and a voice said, greater is he who is in you
Speaker:than he who is in the world.
Speaker:And I woke up, and I was
Speaker:actually, I woke up laughing. I was
Speaker:laughing like I woke up. My wife must have been like, what the heck?
Speaker:I woke up laughing. And I said, God, why did
Speaker:you show me this dream? And God said, why do you think I gave you
Speaker:prayer? We are.
Speaker:We have an unfair fight against
Speaker:the evilest, worstest, terriblest, biggest storm,
Speaker:most devastating. Addiction,
Speaker:brokenness, sinfulness. We are in an
Speaker:unfair fight. But it's not that that's unfair. It's
Speaker:he who is in us that is the unfair battle. And all
Speaker:we have to do is pick up prayer and
Speaker:believe in the one who is greater than whatever obstacle is there.
Speaker:Amen.
Speaker:This is what Psalms tells us. God
Speaker:is our refuge and strength and ever present
Speaker:help in trouble. Not distant, not disconnected.
Speaker:He's an ever present help. In the book of Isaiah, it says this.
Speaker:When you pass through the waters, I will be.
Speaker:What's the first word? What's the first word
Speaker:when? Not if. When you pass through the waters,
Speaker:guys, you're guaranteed to have storms. Jesus, even said this, in
Speaker:this world, you will have trouble. But aren't
Speaker:you glad that's not the end of the verse. But take heart,
Speaker:because I, Jesus, have overcome the world. And let
Speaker:me tell you guys, if we will cling to the world overcomer,
Speaker:the star breather, the one who has army angels
Speaker:out the wazoo on our behalf, then we will
Speaker:overcome the greatest storms in our life every
Speaker:single time. Amen. He is such a faithful
Speaker:God. He's such a faithful God.
Speaker:The promise isn't that you're not gonna have storms. The promise is his presence.
Speaker:And so this arise section is us
Speaker:preparing for storms. Guys, I don't like
Speaker:preparation. I don't like. Have you ever been on a cruise?
Speaker:Who's been on a cruise? I've been on a cruise.
Speaker:And you know, the worst moment on a cruise for me is when
Speaker:I have traveled all day and we are getting on the cruise.
Speaker:This is such a first world problem right here. This is just. Lord,
Speaker:just forgive my stupidity. I
Speaker:get on the boat and I'm so worn out from traveling. And they've got the
Speaker:most magnificent buffet ready for you. Sushi,
Speaker:everything you could want. And you go up there and you make this play. All
Speaker:you want to do is sit down and just glut. Just sin. Just such a
Speaker:sin, you know? And they sound this alarm and they say,
Speaker:you've got to stop what you're doing and you've got to go dawn. Those
Speaker:dumb little. What are they called? Life
Speaker:things. And you go and you stand there for 20
Speaker:minutes in the hot sun and you're like, here I am. So they can count.
Speaker:Okay, again, I'm so sorry. It's first world problem. I'm just so. I can tell.
Speaker:Okay? I can't stand it. But here's the thing. Preparation feels
Speaker:unnecessary until survival depends on it.
Speaker:Until survival depends on it. Let me tell you, if I step on the Titanic,
Speaker:I need to know where those life vests are and where the safety
Speaker:boats are. Okay? I need to know the information. Okay,
Speaker:here's the deal. We don't wait until the storm comes to
Speaker:prepare for the storm. Prayer matters.
Speaker:Worship matters. Repentance matters. Reading the word matters. Learning the
Speaker:voice of God. It all matters. Jeremy and Arwin
Speaker:Jones have this saying in their home. It goes like this. It says this.
Speaker:They say if the world around us is going great,
Speaker:great. But the two of us are not okay. It doesn't
Speaker:matter what's going great in the world, but if we're good
Speaker:and everything around us is spinning out of control, we're going to be just
Speaker:fine, guys. That's the same thing with our
Speaker:God. Everything in your world could be going
Speaker:absolutely in your mind, wonderfully. But if your connection with
Speaker:God is off kilter, that doesn't matter.
Speaker:On the same token, if everything in your world's spinning out of control
Speaker:and your relationship with the Lord is intact,
Speaker:you can weather every single storm that comes your
Speaker:way. Preparation produces peace because you know the one
Speaker:who holds it all together. The last thing that I want us to see
Speaker:is Jesus stands and he rebukes the winds and waves and he says,
Speaker:peace, be still. Let me ask you a question.
Speaker:At what point in this story were the disciples most
Speaker:terrified?
Speaker:They were scared when the storm was there. But the Word says they were
Speaker:terrified when Jesus calmed the storm.
Speaker:Our fear has got to
Speaker:supersede our fear of the storms in our life.
Speaker:They were terrified and asked each other, who is this? Even
Speaker:the wind and the waves obey him. There is this
Speaker:awe, reverence
Speaker:that we should have for the sovereign star breather.
Speaker:This awe reverence that. This little thing. Listen,
Speaker:that little demon that Josh talking about that's messing with me, you
Speaker:ain't got nothing on this God.
Speaker:In fact, not only that, he's not just gonna be there to protect me.
Speaker:Let me tell you something, demon. You're gonna. You also are gonna bow at
Speaker:the feet of Jesus. This God is magnificent. He is
Speaker:huge. He is mighty.
Speaker:They assumed the disciples, that calm water equals safety.
Speaker:You guys can come back if you're back there. Jesus was
Speaker:teaching his presence. His presence was
Speaker:safety. So we think financial security,
Speaker:predictability, comfort, clarity, control,
Speaker:health, ease, stability, absence of conflict.
Speaker:We think all of those things are where we put our
Speaker:trust. But Scripture consistently teaches us
Speaker:that true peace is not the absence of storms. It's the presence of
Speaker:God. Psalm 46, 10, if you're
Speaker:reading in our reading plan, you will read today, says,
Speaker:be still and know that I am God.
Speaker:Now we like to apply that to our lives. And you
Speaker:can. That's appropriate. Be still and know I'm God. But when
Speaker:you actually take that verse in context, what's
Speaker:happening in that passage is the nations are at war
Speaker:and God is saying, be still. I'm
Speaker:God. He is so much larger.
Speaker:See, when I'm in the middle of a storm, it's like that's all I can
Speaker:see. I mean, if I look left, right, up, down, all I see is this
Speaker:storm in front of me. Do you know how small that storm is to the
Speaker:star breather? He is a God who can
Speaker:hold you and hold it all together. And when you
Speaker:truly understand who Jesus is, every other fear begins.
Speaker:Shrink if he commands the wind,
Speaker:if he commands the waves, if creation
Speaker:obeys the Lord, then we must ask ourselves this question. Why
Speaker:would I allow lesser things to own my heart?
Speaker:Grab this. Today, your storms do not
Speaker:have the final say.
Speaker:Whatever it is you're dealing with today, it does not have the final say. It
Speaker:has no authority. It has no authority. The
Speaker:disciples thought they needed calmer waters. But what they needed was a
Speaker:revelation. And if you're here in the middle of a storm, I invite you to
Speaker:ask yourself this question. Is Jesus in the boat with you?
Speaker:Are you out there trying to fend for yourself in the midst
Speaker:of the storm? Would you stand with me this morning?
Speaker:I don't know where he has the trajectory of your life.
Speaker:But for the disciples, he said, we're going to the other side. And
Speaker:going to the other side is what they did.
Speaker:The answer to your storm is
Speaker:his presence. That's it.
Speaker:And so this morning, we're going to do something a little different. I would like
Speaker:to ask if you are here this morning
Speaker:and you're going through a storm.
Speaker:If you're here this morning and you're looking for the
Speaker:Lord in the middle of your storm, you're saying, lord, where are you?
Speaker:If you're here this morning and you realize today
Speaker:I've been weathering a storm without the Lord and
Speaker:I need to invite him to be in it, those are
Speaker:you. Those three things. I want you to come down front. And in
Speaker:addition, one last thing. If you are a mother and
Speaker:you are weary right now, you are tired,
Speaker:you are worn out, you are depleted, and you just need the strength, strength
Speaker:of an almighty God. I want you, any of those four things, I want you
Speaker:to come right now. Come on down to the altar space.
Speaker:I want to read this scripture to you as you
Speaker:come.
Speaker:In Exodus, chapter 33,
Speaker:Moses is having an interaction with the Lord.
Speaker:Moses said to the Lord, see, you say to me, bring up this people.
Speaker:But you have not let me know whom you will send with me.
Speaker:Yet you have said, I know you by name, and you have found
Speaker:favor in my sight. Now, therefore, I
Speaker:pray to you, Lord, if I have found favor in your sight,
Speaker:Moses is speaking, let me know your ways that I
Speaker:may know you. The amplified version says
Speaker:this. It continues. He says, I want to become
Speaker:more deeply and intimately acquainted with you,
Speaker:recognizing and understanding your ways more
Speaker:clearly, that I may find
Speaker:grace and favor in your sight. And consider
Speaker:also that this nation is your people. And here's what the Lord
Speaker:said to Moses. Prayer. My presence
Speaker:shall go with you, and I will
Speaker:give you rest. Everybody say rest.
Speaker:You can rest in the arms of the
Speaker:almighty God, in the shadow of his wings.
Speaker:You can rest right there. Now, here's
Speaker:the deal. Before I say that there are about.
Speaker:Come on up here, guys, because there's people in the aisle, and I don't want
Speaker:you to only halfway get God. Let's go. Come on up here.
Speaker:Here's the deal. All of you out there.
Speaker:Doesn't mean you're not going through a storm. Some of you are too afraid to
Speaker:come up here or whatever it is. Some of you are in a good place
Speaker:right now because Jesus is in your boat navigating things.
Speaker:You've been in this position. One of the greatest things for
Speaker:people that are in this spot to know is that they're not alone. So I
Speaker:would like. I really would like every one of these people to have a
Speaker:connection with. With somebody else. So if you're back there, would you come and find
Speaker:somebody? Maybe you came with them, Maybe they're a friend or
Speaker:somebody. But I don't want anybody left out. So come on down.
Speaker:Come on down, guys. Make space. We're just gonna make a mess of things up
Speaker:here. I'm good at that.
Speaker:So everybody gets someone because we care about you.
Speaker:But more importantly, the God of the universe cares about you. He sees you in
Speaker:your struggle and your storm. Everybody has some. If you don't have somebody,
Speaker:raise your hand. I want to make sure everybody's got a connection. There's some people
Speaker:down here. Come on. Come on. Who doesn't have somebody to connect with
Speaker:down here? Front. They're still coming. They're just blocking the way. Move forward a little
Speaker:bit.
Speaker:It's Mother's Day. Everybody wore deodorant. So get closer. Come
Speaker:on. Okay,
Speaker:okay, now look up here. If you're one of the ones that came up because
Speaker:you're weary or one of those things, give me your eyeballs for a second, I'll
Speaker:give them back. Look up here. My daughter Eliana
Speaker:is five months old, okay? And I've had four
Speaker:other children go through a stage where they're going to sleep in a crib,
Speaker:okay? They're going to sleep in a crib. And my kids, when they're in
Speaker:that crib, they speak the most.
Speaker:It's gibberish. I don't understand what they're saying,
Speaker:okay? I don't know. And, guys, sometimes what you're saying out loud
Speaker:over your storm, it's gibberish. It's gibberish.
Speaker:But, you know, for my daughters who are in the crib,
Speaker:there's one thing that happens that is
Speaker:undeniable. Unmistakable. I know
Speaker:exactly what they mean. And it's when they look up at me and they do
Speaker:this, because this communicates.
Speaker:Daddy, get me out of here. Now.
Speaker:You have a heavenly father who's willing to pick you up
Speaker:right where you are. Would you, as a step of faith in your
Speaker:situation, just lift your arms to a dad
Speaker:beyond dads, a heavenly father who sees you,
Speaker:and guess what? You might be here and not believe it. Do you know there
Speaker:are moments in my life where I don't believe that this God really cares about
Speaker:me because I'm human. That's my mind goes in places and the enemy lies to
Speaker:me and tricks me. But by faith, you can lift your arms and he can
Speaker:handle it. He can handle the gibberish.
Speaker:But, God, get me out of this. Get me out of this emotional situation.
Speaker:Get me out of this circumstance. Get me out of this weak
Speaker:moment in my life. I need your strength. The
Speaker:answer is his presence, and he will hold you. So with hands raised,
Speaker:we're gonna do this song. And the people that came and joined with you,
Speaker:it's not that they got something special. They just know who to point you
Speaker:to. And they're gonna pray over you as we worship
Speaker:right now. So let's go ahead and do this song. Brittany,
Speaker:allow me to render one more
Speaker:grace scripture to you. As some of you are
Speaker:in tears. Maybe you've released something. Maybe you've
Speaker:invited him. Maybe you don't feel any different. But you took a
Speaker:step of faith. Sometimes, you know, you don't feel it. You just have to say,
Speaker:I believe it. Right? Okay, here's the thing. There's another scripture,
Speaker:and it says this. In his presence
Speaker:is the fullness of joy.
Speaker:In his presence is the fullness of joy. That
Speaker:means if you're in the middle of the storm and he's
Speaker:there on the boat with you, you get to experience
Speaker:and tap into joy. You can tap into joy. You
Speaker:can choose to have joy in the middle of every
Speaker:circumstance and situation because of his
Speaker:great presence in your lives. And
Speaker:so raise your hand, Let me give you a blessing. Today.
Speaker:You choose how you walk out of here, with or without his
Speaker:presence. But, man, it's so much better when he's walking
Speaker:with you. May the God and father of our Lord Jesus
Speaker:Christ be present in our choices and our actions, in our
Speaker:words, in our coming and going, and in the middle of every single
Speaker:storm so that we can become more like our. Our Savior.
Speaker:And we can experience incredible, everlasting,
Speaker:eternal joy in the midst of it. In Jesus name. And the church
Speaker:said. Amen. Happy Mother's Day. We love you, Springhouse.
Speaker:Have a great afternoon.
