Charlotte’s Hope Church
First Steps
Matthew 14:28-33
Locations & Times
Hope Church Charlotte
4100 Johnston Oehler Rd, Charlotte, NC 28269, USA
Sunday 10:30 AM
If you want to know who God is, look at Jesus.
If you want to know what it means to be human, look at Jesus.
If you want to know what love is, look at Jesus.
If you want to know what grief is, look at Jesus.
And go on looking until you’re not just a spectator, but your actually part of the drama which has him as the central character.
N.T. Wright
If you want to know what it means to be human, look at Jesus.
If you want to know what love is, look at Jesus.
If you want to know what grief is, look at Jesus.
And go on looking until you’re not just a spectator, but your actually part of the drama which has him as the central character.
N.T. Wright
We have looked so far at…
· God’s Pattern of Calling us to Him.
· The High Cost of Staying in the Boat
Today, we will focus on RESPONDING TO THE CALL
1. Identifying our “boats”
2. Taking the first step
· God’s Pattern of Calling us to Him.
· The High Cost of Staying in the Boat
Today, we will focus on RESPONDING TO THE CALL
1. Identifying our “boats”
2. Taking the first step
Gregg Levoy (author of Vital Signs: the Nature and Nurture of Passions) calls it the common cold of the soul:
To sinful patterns of behavior that never get confronted and changed. Abilities and gifts that never get cultivated and deployed until weeks become months, and months turn into years. And one day you’re looking back on a life of Deep intimate gut-wrenchingly honest conversations you never had; Great bold prayers you never prayed, Exhilarating risks you never took, Sacrificial gifts you never offered, Lives you never touched, And you’re sitting in a recliner with a shriveled soul and forgotten dreams and you realize there was a world of desperate need and a great God calling you to be part of something bigger than yourself –
You see the person you could have become but did not; You never followed your calling. You never got out of the Boat.
To sinful patterns of behavior that never get confronted and changed. Abilities and gifts that never get cultivated and deployed until weeks become months, and months turn into years. And one day you’re looking back on a life of Deep intimate gut-wrenchingly honest conversations you never had; Great bold prayers you never prayed, Exhilarating risks you never took, Sacrificial gifts you never offered, Lives you never touched, And you’re sitting in a recliner with a shriveled soul and forgotten dreams and you realize there was a world of desperate need and a great God calling you to be part of something bigger than yourself –
You see the person you could have become but did not; You never followed your calling. You never got out of the Boat.
The experience of walking on water was JESUS’ GREAT GIFT to Peter
Getting out of the boat was PETER’S GREAT GIFT to Jesus
Getting out of the boat was PETER’S GREAT GIFT to Jesus
How do we take the FIRST STEP?
Information alone does not transform. It must include Action: Faith without works is dead!!
Information alone does not transform. It must include Action: Faith without works is dead!!
God wants us to experience His awesome power, but we must take the FIRST STEP.
Important question, “What am I doing that I could not do apart from the power of God?”
Important question, “What am I doing that I could not do apart from the power of God?”
WHERE IS GOD CALLING YOU TO WALK ON WITH HIM?
A.The Indicator of Fear
B. The Indicator of Frustration
C. The Indicator of Compassion
D. The Indicator of Prayer
A.The Indicator of Fear
B. The Indicator of Frustration
C. The Indicator of Compassion
D. The Indicator of Prayer
Walking on the water is not about some great thing YOU WILL DO for God. In fact, by yourself you can do nothing of lasting value. It is about what God longs to do WITH YOU and THROUGH YOU by His power and grace.
It’s not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena…who, at best, knows in the end the triumph of great achievement, and who, at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly. So that his place will never be with those cold timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.
President Theodore Roosevelt
President Theodore Roosevelt
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