Mark 4:35 if you have it somebody say yeah says this on the same day when evening had come he said to them can you read this one phrase with me let us cross over to the other side where are we going where are we going I'm going to read the rest of the verse in a second but can I preach to you just for about 5 to 10 seconds hear me he did not bring you this far to leave you this far we serve a God that cross is over brings people to the other side so lift up your head encourage your soul you may not be where you want to be right now but hear me the God who began a good work he will see it through to completion he's not in the business of taking people halfway he's going to bring you to the other side side let us cross over to the other side now when they had left the multitude he took him along in the boat as he was and other little boats also were with him and a great Windstorm arose and the waves beat into the boat so that it was already filling but he Jesus was in the stern asleep on a pillow and they awoke him and said to him teacher do you not care that we are perishing then here arose and rebuked the wind and the Sea said peace be still and the wind ceased and there was a calm but he said to them why are you and if Jesus from Baltimore he would have said so scarred how is it that you have no faith and they feared exceedingly and said to one another who can this be that even the wind and the Sea obey him I have a message for you today in titled whatever you do don't drown whatever you do don't drown can we pray father God we're grateful we're thankful God we are in awe not just that we get to sing about you and hear about you but God we get to meet you because you're in this room right now because you're in this room miracles signs wonders peace purpose Supernatural acceleration all that we stand in need of is in this room right now so have your way speak and we will oy father God I pray in advance for the healing of the hearts of the Dallas Cowboy fans as the Baltimore Ravens come and kick their tail on September 22nd do it in Jesus name amen and amen and a had to sneak that one in there the Ravens the Ravens the Ravens are coming my mom had this phrase that I'm sure a lot of us were raised by the same kind of Mama cuz you know this phrase my mom would say when it rains it we all had the same mother when it rains it pours and the whole idea from this phrase is that drama compounds it's usually everything in your life is good or everything is bad there's rarely an in between it's when one thing goes wrong it's like there's 17 other things that go wrong on the exact same day you've been running late for work you're you're running late from work you're already rushing maybe you're behind on a project or whatever it may be and you run out and now you got no gas or there's a tire that's flat or whatever it's not even bad enough that I was running late and forgot a project now my car is not moving the way that I needed to move maybe you're a parent in here and you just happen to get sick you feel the tickle in your throat or whatever it may be and the same time you get sick your children get sick and any parents in here know that when your kid kids are sick it doesn't matter whether you're sick or not cuz they don't care all they know is Mommy Daddy I ain't feeling well I need you to take care of me when it rains it pours drama just has a way of compounding and what happens is so many of us have walked through stormy Seasons we've walked through difficult Seasons we've walked through drama filled seasons and we've walked through so many of those Seasons that now we've adopted almost of paranoia that something bad is always waiting for us around the corner it is to the place where some of us can't even enjoy the blessings of God because when life is good you're thinking oh it's not going to last for long something else is right around you ever ran into those Eeyore type oh is me man I heard you got a promotion at work yeah but you know it comes with more pressure and more respon responsibility oh heard you're making more money yeah but More Money More Problems it's like I can't even enjoy the favor and the blessing of God CU I'm always paranoid that something bad is waiting for me around the corner and what you obsess over you adapt your life around so some of us anticipate bad things happening so much that it's actually altered how we approach Ro life some of us are so paranoid about negativity and drama that we have stopped taking risk in life we've kind of just adopted the mindset well life is going to be painful why would I make it more painful by taking a risk so I'm just going to play it safe and I'm not going to do anything that I can't guarantee the outcome and I can't control without even realizing it you look up and realize it's been six months since I ever took a leap of faith it's been 2 years it's been 5 years since I've attempted anything that I could not control and we all know the Bible says that the righteous shall live by control no says the righteous shall live by come on shout back at me the righteous are live by which means God wants us in a position where we're living at a level where we need his Supernatural on our natural some of us the the demented ones of us because life is full of drama and painful we don't play it safe we're like man it's painful already I might as well leap and now we out here doing Reckless stuff and crazy stuff because we're like hey how bad can it get it's already bad I might as well risk something by the way you need to know if you are risk adverse us Risk Takers we don't respect you like you punk why you living life like that but you risk taking you need to know risk adverse people they don't respect us the reality is we look down on the other person but it all comes from the same source and that is so we're so paranoid about what's coming next that we try to control life in some manner the the the worst are those that are not risk adverse nor Risk Takers they have simply surrendered to life what what will be will be I'm not what whatever comes I'm just going to float through life and just take what I get cuz I can't control it the wind will take me wherever it takes me it's the dumbest thing I've ever heard in my life you ever had a balloon with helium and you just let it up in the wind you ever seen that balloon float to your house and wait for you on your front step the wind has never taken anybody anywhere they want to go but without even I've just surr so I don't even make decisions for myself anymore I let life decide for me you've been I know that's not good English but it's good preaching that the person you're with right now is not the blessing that God has for you but because you've surrendered just like ah if they want to break up with me they can but I'm not going to take the first step are you kidding me you know the job you're at is not the best that God has for you but you're not looking for a new one you haven't stepped away you're waiting for them determine hear me you know you've surrendered to life when you get fired from your job and you're excited about it woo I hated that place inway I'm so that's what you know you should have made the decision instead of letting the decision being made for you what happens is we look at the pain of life we look at the compounding drama and we're not dumb enough to say it out loud because we're in ch church and you're not allowed to tell the truth in church but truth be told some of us are really fustrated at God because we blame him for what is or is is not happening in our life some of us if we'd be honest we mad at God now we would never say that out loud cuz all of us read the Old Testament and the Old Testament God be opening the ground and making people disappear and I know this is New Testament but I don't know if Old Testament God is still around so I ain't going to say [Music] it I'm like God where were you when my loved one was sick God why am I struggling with this financial issue God why am I overwhelmed in this area or whatever it may be and one of the reasons why we're frustrated God is because we did not realize that life comes with storms it's not God's fault it's the fact that we live in a broken world but the reality is life has UPS life has Downs the Bible says it RS on the just and the unjust uh life this passage in Mark chapter 4 we run into the disciples in a moment where they were angry at god notice I didn't say they were needing God or fear they were how do you know because they went straight to God and they said don't you care they didn't say fix the storm stop the waves they literally went for his love for don't you care cuz your show fans how many people you ever yelled at your mom you ever yelled at your mom yelled at your mom great oh wow this is a ratchet service there was sheesh oh wow okay we need to talk after service I need to know how you're still alive there was nobody who raised their hand to the first service I said everybody other their mom was dead and let's have a moment of silence for the dearly departed okay thanks for throwing my message off anyway most people in their right mind know there's two people you don't yell at you don't yell at your mama you don't yell at Jesus I don't think they yelled at Jesus cuz they were really mad at Jesus I think they yelled at Jesus cuz the waves were higher than they expected and the wind was blow at a level that they had never seen before and there's something about the swirl around you that puts a fear in you that kind of causes you to lose your mind just for a second so what I want to do over the next three hours of this message it's not going to take long at all just about three three and a half or so hours I want to teach you how to survive a storm because we do serve a God that quiets storms and quiets winds but the reality is if you live on this planet long enough you're going to face a storm and if your faith is not anchored if you don't have the wisdom and the power of God that storm will take you out I'm going to give you three quick thoughts the first thought is this write this down write this by the way y'all take notes in church right I I don't know if you know this just just free information you are 78% more likely to make it into heaven if you take notes in church so I'm just just trying to give you the best shot I can give you since we're talking about statistics 84% of all statistics from preachers are made up so you can first thing is just write this down it is going to rain it is going where's Pastor Robert I don't like this guest speaker he's so negative I like positive preachers this guy is not positive enough okay I'm sorry here's some positivity I am posit positive it is going to rain my dad and I we uh we we we play golf often actually every Monday I in town me and my dad have a standing golf tea time we play every single more uh Monday both of us are horrible golfers but we love it and we are both trash talkers do you know how difficult it is to talk trash at something you are horrible at but yet we have still managed to do that we talk trash playing our golf game will catch up eventually one day we're out there playing golf and Mondays we got to kind of walk you can't drive the c c cart so we set up our little buggy and we put our golf clubs in there and we're talking man I'm beat you by 10 Strokes knowing we're both going to lose 17 balls on the first hole but we're still going back and forth at it and we're all packed up ready to go and this lady who's playing golf she walks by us she says hey how's it going then she says man I hope we can get 18 holes in before it rains I said rain what rain look up at the sky perfectly blue beautiful sun white clouds I mean it is perfect there's nothing wrong I'm like what rain are you talking there's no sign of rain and she says oh no no no a thunderstorm is coming in about an hour there is going to be a torrential downpour I pull out my phone look at my weather app and show enough it says in one hour rain is coming I said I don't know if I believed this app I don't know if I believe this woman but just in case we run back to our car I grab an umbrella my dad grabs an umbrella we we go off and we play exactly almost to the dot an hour later blue clouds turn black the sky cracks open and torrential downpour comes but we were good because somebody warned us we pull out our umbrellas open our umbrellas we go tuck under a tree and for the 10 minutes that summer storm came down it was raining all around us but we were dry in the midst of it because somebody warned us it was coming can I tell you something the actual issue is not a storm coming because as long as you know the storm is coming you can be covered in the storm some of us we think we're mad because we're going through a difficult season you're not mad because you're going through a difficult season you're mad because no one warns you that a storm was coming it's not the fact that the person walked out of my life it's the fact that I didn't see it coming because if I saw them leaving then I would not have attached my hopes and dreams to them I would attached my hopes and dreams to God so when they left it would have been their loss not mine but because I didn't see it coming it was devastating hear me if no one's ever told you before you've been warned it is going to rain the Bible says in John 16:33 these things I have spoken to you watch this that in me you may have peace peace doesn't come from a perfect life PE peace doesn't come from drama free living peace comes from being Anchored In Christ he said in me you may have peace in the world you will have tribulation but be of good cheer I have overcome the world you know it's wild all throughout scripture God warns us that storms are coming but the reality is we don't read the Bible based on what the Bible says we read the Bible based on what we want to see so we read these verses and the verse clearly says a storm is coming but we miss it let me give you an example for example Romans 8:28 you know this one for we know that all things somebody say work together work together for the good of those who love God and to those who are called according to his purp we love this verse we quote this verse we preach this verse all things work together missing that this is a warning about a storm give you an example how many people in here you would consider yourself a cook you are cook like you can you can cook cook cook now now a lot of hands going up let me let me explain to you okay there's a difference between I do cook and I can cook let me just give you some clarifications if you use a recipe you are not a cook you are a reader readers are leaders but you are not a cook so you put your hand out if you use teaspoons tablespoons cups measuring utensils you are not a cook cuz Cooks don't use measuring utensils I called my grandma one day I like Grandma how do you make this recipe grandma said oh you take a dash of this and a Sprinkle of this I said Grandma what is a dash is it a dash is it a you will cook when you dashing and sprinkl it anybody who's a real cook you know youve been in the middle of a meal maybe you're making dinner you're making a cake or you something like that and you run into the fridge and grab some eggs or oil or whatever it may be and you realize uhoh I'm out of butter or I'm out of eggs and maybe you're like me you too lazy to leave the house and go to the supermarket and what do you say you say I'm going to make it I'mma make it work I'mma work it out what does that mean it means I don't have all the ingredients that I need to make this meal but I'mma find something and substitute and when I'm finished you won't even know that I didn't have all the ingredients that I needed so when God said all things work together for my good what we were missing is he's saying you will not have all the ingredients that you need for the destiny that I have for you so why are you so shocked that you don't have the degree for what he has called you to do why are you so shocked that you don't have the network to push you forward he said I'mma make it work out but subliminally in that verse is you will never have all that you need because then it wouldn't be a miracle let me give you another one give another one Isaiah 54:17 you know this one also no weapon formed against me shall prosper and every tongue which Rises against me in judgment you shall condemn come on where my Fred Hammond fans at no [Applause] weapon me I'm sorry fored I know it sounds God will do what come on y'all churchy come now come now come no listen you get a preacher start preaching that no weapon verse Oh that room about to go quick especially when he chokes up on that mic and says let me tell you something about my God it does not matter what weapon the enemy forms against me it shall not sit down I'm ready to run I'm ready to shout and we don't even know what we shouting about you know what I want the verse to say I want the verse to say no weapon will be formed against me [Music] I want the verse to say no tongue will rise up against me you know what the verse says the exact opposite it says a weapon will be formed against you it just won't Prosper it says tongues will speak against you they just shall fall so here's my question why are you so in your feelings when the people you thought were your friends are talking about you the Bible told you that they would talk about you before and you and you and and and just and you understand I've been nothing but nice to them I didn't do anything to them I don't deserve this why are they commenting about me why it ain't because the Bible said that but we missed it in the verse where it says storms will come it's just a part of life and we've got to learn how do I survive in a storm that is guaranteed to come can I give you to okay I'm I'm one of those preachers that just preaches too much so I got three points but then I got three sub points for every point so this is not Point number two this is subo of Point number one okay three things when you realize the storm is coming here's the first thing don't freak out don't make a stupid decision can I say stupid in church we in Dallas whatever don't make a stupid decision in the middle of a storm that's right nothing worse than being in a storm and making the storm worse by doing something dumb in the storm yes they walked out of your life yes they stabbed you in the back now don't compound the stupidity by chasing after them or finding someone just as dumb and bringing them to replay it already hurts don't make it worse can't give you another thing not to do in a storm don't turn your back on Jesus in the middle of a storm I'm not even going to yell this one let me just talk why is it that people stop coming to church when they hit a difficulty a loved one gets sick or passes away job loss or something that you don't understand and I just I just need I just need some time to myself I just I just don't feel like being in church and all no no no hear me c when you're in a storm don't throw Jesus out the boat the only shot you have is that he is sleeping in your boat the only reason that boat ain't sinking is cuz Jesus is asleep in it and when you throw him overboard you f to be like Jonah find you a whale can't give you another thing not to do in a storm don't get selfish nothing will make your problems worse than obsessing and consuming yourself with your problem have enough Faith to know God will take care of this storm let me encourage somebody else while they are in their you ever you ever called a selfish person you actually had a difficult day and you needed somebody to encourage you and hey how let me tell you I didn't call to hear about your day and man can you believe this my coworker did this my employed is my arthritis acting up my neck hurt my knee hurt my neck and my back and then okay I got to go okay don't catch that and then they hung up and you're just like well what a my my grandmother I I called my grandma one time one time I called her she was 89 years old somebody say 89 years old 89 called my grandma grandma was 89 years old I said Grandma what are you doing she said Stephen I can't talk now I'm going to visit the old people I said should I tell her or I said Grandma grandma what you mean visit the old people Grandma you are old people she had arthritis that caused her all this pain and all this other kind of I said Grandma you you need to stay in the house you don't need to be going to visit people she said Stephen I've got grandkids to come visit me but there are some people that don't have anybody to come visit them and as long as I've got breath in my body and strength I'm going to go in Courage and help every single Sunday after church she would go visit people who were to feeble to make don't get consumed in your problem it makes the storm worse second thing is this write this down write this down in some storms you build a boat in some storms you buildable I love church church encourage you man you going through a difficult time you're going through a season you're going through a storm go to church go preach you happy and church let me tell you we serve a God that quiets the storm he speaks to the winds he speaks to the waves and when Noah was going through a storm God God told him to build a boat can I keep it 100 I'm sorry Jen Z can I keep it a buck some storms God will get you out of but some storms God will keep you in it some difficult situations God says I'll take you out of it but some difficult situations God says I'll bless you right in the middle of it and by the way by the time you get out nobody will even be able to tell that you were in in the first place for example you know those three Hebrew boys that said hey we will not bow our KN even if you throw us into the fire our God is more than able to bring us out and even if he does how gangster is that can you imagine when they tied them up they lit that fire seven times hotter than it should have been they're shuffling their way to that fire god if there's ever been a good time now they feeling the flame their eyebrows all getting burnt this is a good time God send you rain Holy Spirit [Music] rain he never saved him from the fire they got picked up and thrown into the fire next thing you know the king hops up on his feet and said did we not throw three men into the fire how come I see four men that are not bound but walking around and the fourth man looks like the Son of God sometimes God will rescue you from a situation sometimes he will step into that situation with you and cover you and keep you and by the way the Bible says when they came out of the fire they ain't even smell like hear me hold on that's why church can be confusing sometimes especially when you're new because you could come to church new and you've got issues and Hang-Ups and all this other kind of stuff and you look around and everybody's pretty and everybody's perfect and everybody look like they got their life together and they know all the little church is to say God is good all the time all the time God is I'm too blessed to be stressed and you like I'm blessed but I'm stressed I must not fit here cuz everybody's life is perfect can I tell you something about church ain't nobody in here life is perfect the thing is we serve a god that is full of so much grace that we don't smell like what we've been through I've been through the storm I've been through the fire he's pulled me out of some situations but because of the grace of God you can't even see it on me because as far as the East is from the West he's removed you got about 10 seconds to praise God that what he brought you out of what he delivered you from what he's done in your life you can't even tell that it's [Applause] on in some storms he pulls you out you but in some storms he tells you to build a boat somebody say build a boat Proverbs 3: 19 says this the Lord by wisdom founded the Earth by understanding he established the heavens come on we going to go deep just for a second somebody say wisdom wisdom Earth Earth understanding understanding Heavens Heavens there's two Dimensions that we live in at all times we live in the natural Dimension which we can experience through our five senses but we also live in the spiritual Dimension that we consense to the spirit of God that dwells inside of us here's what the Bible says it says wisdom governs the natural and understanding governs the heavenlies okay if you don't like this just email Pastor Robert next week and he'll take which tells me there are certain things that prayer won't fix prayer don't fix a bad diet [Applause] prayer don't fix you not going to the gym after you get up off your knees you little click your little steps in and there's certain things that we've got to do according to the wisdom of God's word and what happens is some of the storms and the drama that we're experiencing is because we're not applying the word of God to our Liv you talk about how your friends talk about you and stab you in the back and how Petty they are well the Bible says Bad Company corrupts good character if you would stop hanging out with ratchet people then you wouldn't get the so there's some things that we want God to fix and God is like I need you to start applying the wisdom of it's like remember P90X anybody old enough where my Millennials at y'all remember the little little P90X DVDs you can have Rock SOG ABS in I got me little P90X DVDs and I took my DVD in I put it in the TV screen and went got me a bag of chips and went got me some Fanta orange soda and I sat down and I turned on P90x and I ate my popcorn and I drank my soda and I watched P90X on the TV and you know what did not happen abs triceps biceps and even ABS did not appear cuz there's something you can't just watch you've got to engage you've got to participate you've got to do what the word of God says I've got to build a boat here's three sub points subo number one build it today the storm is coming tomorrow procrastination is one of the greatest reasons that storms are multiplied oh I'm going have that difficult conversation tomorrow or I'm going to get disciplined tomorrow oh and yes tomorrow turns into tomorrow turns into tomorrow which turns into next year and when the rain starts coming the boat is not built remember when I bought my first house I I watched too much TV y'all so I was watching fixer uper and I thought I was you know Joanna Gaines and the Cru I said you know I'm going to buy me a fixer up or one got me a foreclosure with the basement flooded out I said I'm going to flip it and make money y'all I literally lost my drawers I mean never renovated the basement could barely pay the mortgage I was struggling went got me two roommates when they started paying me rent I was barely making ends me walking through the house I was upstairs one time and I looked and there was a brown patch in the roof there was a leak in my roof do you know what you do when you're broke and there's a leak in your roof absolutely nothing that ain't got nothing to do with me I don't matter so I'm I ain't fixing that this this this is Stephen in his 20s I promise you I'm a lot more disciplined today I left that leak for two years y'all I ain't had the money to fix it so why I was going to look at it I'm not handy so the brown stain got bigger I went out and bought me a can of little white paint painted over the brown stain and I said if I can't see it it's not real two years later y'all the roof fell in the drywall not the roof but the drywall fell in so I finally had to call roofer call the roofer he came in wanted to push this man in his face he goes how long it's been like this h a while he said man I wish you had noticed it when it first happened I didn't tell him I did he said if you had called me when this first happened it would have been a $100 fix he said you just had one tile missing I could have fixed it and saved all this now here's what goty he hands me an invoice y'all I mean that Jo look like a bibliography at the end of an essay I'm like dear procrastination multiplies storms last thing is this write this down in some storms you speak to the waves in some storms I build a boat it's my wisdom that gets me through the storm in some SPO storms this isn't a natural drama this is the enemy trying to block me how do I know the difference when I've done everything the word of God said to do in wisdom and the waves are still crashing and the wind is still blowing then I know this is spiritual not just natural you can play I'm done waves crashing wind blowing disciples losing their mind and they go and they wake Jesus up don't you care that we're dying and if you don't see the ignorance of Jesus you don't read your Bible right this man got up and didn't even speak to the disciples cuz stupid questions don't get answered he stands up and the Bible says he rebukes the wind he rebukes the way wind shut up waves sit down and he looks at the disciples he said oh you of little faith in other words said why why didn't y'all do that and as I'm reading this I'm like he he attacked their faith which means there was something that they were supposed to do in the storm that they did not do and I'm like God what what am I missing what what were they supposed to do they they were humans and and then you know I knew I was coming to social dad y'all got Pastor Robert preaching every Sunday so I a little intimidated so I did a little bit of research because I got to come with some Greek or some Hebrews or something to impress him so I went on Wikipedia got me some Greek and Hebrew and I was reading it through and that word rebuke it says Jesus rebuked the wind and the waves that word rebuke was only used about nine times in the new test and it was only used when Jesus was casting out or dealing with demonic activity what Jesus was saying to the disciples is this storm is not natural this storm is because there's a man on the other Shore who's going to find his freedom as soon as we get there and the enemy is trying to block us from getting to the destination that God has for us and whenever the hindrance or the delay is the enemy you should know that the same Authority that is on Jesus is on you because he said whatever you bind on Earth is bound in heaven and whatever you Bound in heaven is bound on Earth he said oh you of little faith don't you know that whatever Jesus can do here on Earth you can do here on Earth the disciples should have stood up and said well I've never tried this before but let me see if this works Wind and Waves by the authority of Jesus be silent be silent be silent some storms you build a boat in but some storms you stand up under the authority of Jesus and say the enemy has no authority to block me from what God has promised me so I speak to you cancer and I say bow at the name of Jesus I speak to you depression and say God has given me the mind of Christ you have no authority over my teenager over my spouse over my home I speak to you la the word of God says no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly I've got to learn there's some storms that have no Authority in my life and God has given me the power to speak to that storm and see it quieted through the authority of Jesus since we have about 15 seconds left can you hop up on your feet I can't speak to your storm for you but can you open up your mouth over whatever you're facing can you declare the promises of God the hope of God the freedom of God the authority of God under the authority of Jesus we speak to every sickness in this room watching online we say because of our healer by his stripes healing is released in this moment we speak to all torment all fear all blocked doors all mountains be removed through the authority of almighty God God we still serve a God that quiets the winds we still serve a God that quiets the waves and we decree and declare that it will come to pass in our lives if you believe it somebody shout hallelujah somebody shout hallelujah in this place every single person God has made us the way that he's made us and for some of us we just naturally lean to the Natural and for some of us we naturally lean to the spiritual for all my analytical system natural wisdom type of people not everything you can work out with your wisdom some things you got to go into your closet and get into the presence of God and use the power of God to make the enemy come into alignment with what God Said some of y'all spiritual folk where my flag dancers at y'all just not everything you can rebuke and decree and declare some stuff you got to come out of that prayer closet and go do what God told you to do and as you walk in obedience that storm will quiet come on can you lift your hands father God we're grateful God we're thankful for your presence in this place right where you're standing can you close your eyes can you pray this prayer with me say holy spirit what are you saying to me and just give God a moment to make this message personal to you for some of you you just need the peace of God you're in a storm but you're not in that storm by yourself Jesus is there with you for some of us there's areas of wisdom that we need to apply for some of us we need to enforce The Authority that God has given us but for some of you if you'd be honest you don't know if Jesus is in your boat or not maybe you're like me you grew up in church and you know how to say amen and all that but you've never invited Jesus into your boat maybe you're new to church and you didn't even know that he wants to be a part of your life oh hear me he wants to be a part of your life he wants to be a part of your life so badly that he literally gave his life life so that you could live and he's just waiting for you to respond and this is your moment of response so watching online all over this room if you'd be honest enough to say I can't say that Jesus is in my boat but I need him right where you're standing can you pray this prayer with me is this simple say Lord Jesus I need you thank you for loving me even when I wasn't thinking about you thank you for dying on a cross shedding your blood so that all of my sin all of my mistakes can be erased and in this moment I Surrender I give you all of me be my Lord be my savior and use me for your glory in Jesus name amen and amen and amen come on can you celebrate for every single person that just made the greatest decision ever God bless