What Does it Mean to Have a God?

Kongsvinger Lutheran Church

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Welcome to the teaching ministry of Kungsvinger Lutheran Church Kungsvinger is a beacon for the gospel of Jesus Christ and is located on the plains of northwestern,

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Minnesota We proclaim Christ and him crucified for our sins and salvation by grace through faith alone

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And now here's a message from Pastor Chris Roseberg the Holy Gospel according to st.

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Mark chapter 4 verses 35 through 41 on That day when evening had come

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Jesus said to them. Let us go across to the other side and Leaving the crowd they took him with them in the boat just as he was and the other boats were with him

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The great windstorm arose and the waves were breaking into the boat So the boat was already filling but he was in the stern asleep on the cushion

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And they woke him and said to him teacher. Do you not care that we are perishing? And he awoke and rebuked the wind and said to the sea peace be still and the wind ceased

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And there was a great calm and he said to them, why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith and they were filled with great fear and said to one another who then is this that even the wind?

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And the sea obey him. This is the gospel of the Lord In the name of Jesus All right, we're very familiar with texts like our gospel text and every single one of us has probably heard

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Sermons or stories like this and teach us Apparently what the point of all of this is to teach us how to handle the storms in our lives now

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I'm not a big fan of taking a Historical narrative and turning it into a parable because that's effectively what you do when you talk about What do you do in the storms of life?

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So the boat becomes your life the storm becomes something in your life when things get topsy -turvy

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And oftentimes you hear pastors talking this way. Are you having trouble paying your bills? Well, you're currently in a financial storm

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Are you having trouble in your marriage? Well, you're currently in a relation a relationship storm. Are you having trouble at work?

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Well, then you're currently in a career storm and I kind of get the move I kind of get the move and it sort of makes sense but oftentimes it misses the major point of this particular story and Then things get really weird

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When you preach this same kind of message from Matthew's account because in Matthew's account there's another time they're crossing the

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Sea of Galilee Jesus had dismissed the crowd after the feeding of the 5 ,000 and The disciples are crossing the

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Sea of Galilee a storm comes up and Jesus is walking on the water And if you remember in Matthew's account when

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Jesus is walking on the water Peter didn't believe that it was him So Peter says Lord if it's you let me come walk on the water

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And so then you get these weird applications in sermons like this. Are you going through a storm in your life? Well, you need to have enough faith to step out of your boat and walk on the water and to which you should probably say

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Well, what does that look like? How do I go about doing such a thing? And you see that misses the whole point of this text

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Because the point of the text given to us is the question Who is this that even the wind and the waves obey his voice?

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That's the real point of the text now. It is true that we go through trials and tribulations in life.

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This is most Certainly true, but I'm going to kind of avoid that way of talking and instead focus on what this text is

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Really saying and who it's really pointing to So to kind of frame this up if you remember your small

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Catechism and as the pastor of Kongsving or I'm supposed to say you should be remembering your small catechism

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You should have this memorized the first commandment is you shall have no other gods and of course the question that Luther asks in the small catechism is what does this mean or Vasis das if you want to be

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German and the answer is that we should fear and love and trust in God above all things

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Then in the large catechism, I think it's fascinating what Luther writes here in regards to this commandment

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You shall have no other gods. He says this you shall have no other gods That is you shall regard me

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God alone as your God. And what does this mean? And how is it to be understood? What is it to have a

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God? What is a God the valid question, right? We'll see and his answer goes like this a

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God is that to which we look for all good and in which we find Refuge in every time of need and so oftentimes when you look at you know

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The world around us or even at the ways in which we are tempted. We oftentimes go through Periods of time in our life when we are in great need and the question is what do you seek refuge in in those times?

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Do you seek refuge in a bottle of whiskey in? Prescription medications do you zone out and go on a binge on Netflix?

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You see these the different things that we look to to comfort us in our time of need

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Oftentimes somebody can make the case what you're doing and what you're seeking in that thing is the thing that God promises to give you and you're turning alcohol or drugs or Netflix into a

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God it's weird that we live in a day when you can turn Netflix into a deity, right? But it's not really a deity, but you kind of get the point so Luther then says this to have a

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God is nothing else than to trust and to believe him with our whole heart as I have often said that trust and faith of the heart alone make

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God both God and an idol So if your faith and trust are right, then your God is true

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On the other hand if your trust is false and wrong, then you do not have the true

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God for these two belong together Faith and God and we're gonna note this faith is an important thing faith always

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Has an object faith is like eyesight. So faith never stands by itself

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So if you say I have faith The question that oftentimes will come up if you're being ambiguous in that way somebody say faith in whom faith in what?

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You know, for instance if you decided that you were gonna get the cheapest airline tickets possible for your upcoming

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Vacation to Mexico and when the plane arrives, it's rusty and it's coughing and spewing smoke and there's chickens inside the cabin, right

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You may have put your faith in the wrong airplane is that's all I'm saying You know,

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I wouldn't have enough faith to enter an airplane of that type So faith always has an object to whom are we looking and whom are we looking for?

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What is kind of the question so faith and God always go together that to which your heart clings and entrust itself

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Is I say Luther says really your God? so the purpose of this commandment therefore is to require true faith and confidence of the heart and these fly straight to the one true

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God and cling to him alone. Now. All of that is to frame this we're gonna frame this in light of the first commandment our story

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Now coming back to our gospel text. It's important that we pay attention to some of the details I'll work through the details and I'm gonna reframe one of the details as we work through it

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But it's important for us to remember we are in the gospel of Mark chapter 4 Which is still really early in Jesus's ministry and the disciples at this time

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We're still coming to grips with who Jesus is and you notice that Jesus isn't saying to him boys

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Listen, I need I got to tell you something. I'm God That might get

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Jesus institutionalized. So, you know, it's like it's one thing to say you're a deity It's a whole other thing to actually kind of prove it

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So you're gonna note that Jesus isn't running around saying I'm God. I'm God. I'm God. I'm God That's not what he's doing at all

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So the disciples are still coming to grips with who Jesus is by this time They really believe that he was the

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Messiah and they've already begun warming up to the phrase son of God But however at this time they were far from saying that Jesus is

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God in human flesh So let's return to our text Let's pay attention to some of the details and one particular detail at the end of this little examination

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I'll tweak a little bit and you'll see what's going on Mark 4 35 on that day

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When evening had come Jesus said to them, let us go across to the other side So Jesus had literally spent an entire day doing ministry outdoors healing people teaching people preaching full days worth of work, you know, you know the

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Brief sermon that we have here at Kong's finger is nothing compared to what Jesus was doing and at this time He still hadn't showered.

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He hadn't been able to take a nap have any downtime And so he's kind of at the end of his workday and this is why it's talking in this way

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So so let's go to the other side the other side of the Sea of Galilee important fact as we continue to work our way through our

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Gospels this Pentecost season is that the other side of the Sea of Galilee the inhabitants of the other side

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They're pagans They're Gentiles the side that Jesus is doing his ministry on the side where Capernaum is that is primarily

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Jewish So keep that in mind. So going to the other side Jesus is saying we're gonna go do some ministry with the pagans

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That's what he's literally saying because Jesus came for the whole world Let's go to the other side. So leaving the crowd they took him with him in the boat just as he was

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He hadn't brushed his teeth hadn't combed out his beard, you know all of that So and other boats were with him so you get the idea that there's a little bit of a little regatta going on here on the

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Sea of Galilee and then all of a sudden which is want to happen on the on the Sea of Galilee Sea of Galilee is

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The lowest altitude freshwater lake on planet Earth It's below sea level and so, you know in the summertime you the winds will get whipping

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You know with the heat and everything like that and that thing will go from calm to having white caps That are like four or five six feet tall that will swamp a little boat like they were in So great windstorm arose the waves were breaking into the boat.

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So the boat was already filling But Jesus was in the CERN asleep on The cushion he was beat.

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All right, and not even the storm is waking him up. So they woke him and said to him

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Teacher do you not care that we are perishing? Well, that's an aggressive question, isn't it?

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Yeah It's kind of one of those loaded questions like, you know, if somebody were to ask the question, you know

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It's like have you stopped beating your wife yet that that's really a loaded question because it kind of assumes a few things

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So it's something going on in this question, but we'll come back to this. So Jesus awoke He rebuked the wind and said to the sea peace be still and I it doesn't tell us how he rebuked the wind

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But you kind of get the idea that Jesus is waking up. He's kind of groggy he's been asked this really kind of off question and so he

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I almost kind of picture him going wind I'm trying to sleep here

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Would you just knock it off and see peace be still and of course the wind in the sea

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They listened to his voice and the wind ceased and there was a great calm and just went and then he said to them

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Why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith? in whom Faith for what?

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It's actually faith in him And so they were filled with great fear and they said to one another who then is this that even the wind and the sea?

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Obey him. Who is this indeed? Who is this indeed now? This is where our Old Testament text is quite helpful

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And I love this text turn with me back to Job chapter 38 starting at verse 1 and a little bit of the context here

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Job if you remember the story Job was a fellow who was faithful. He trusted in God Really was faithful and even praying for his own children and God had rewarded him with prosperity

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The devil basically said God the only reason why he loves you is because you've given him a cushy life

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Just let me take everything away from him and he'll curse your face you know your name do it your face and so God said you're on and Job was made to suffer horribly

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Horribly, he lost his children he lost his sheep his cattle his farm his health and He was in pain and agony and to make matters worse

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He had these friends who had like wacker doodle theology One guy was into Joel Osteen's your best life now theology another guy was into like the purpose -driven life and then with the third guy we won't even get into that because that's like way

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Often like NAR world and these were the guys that were trying to comfort Job in the midst of his problems and their theology was actually making everything worse and in the midst of all this job wants to know

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Why have I been made to suffer this way and God never answers that question, by the way

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And instead God decides that he's gonna answer Job out of a whirlwind now

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Let me kind of put this in context. We all know what a good supercell thunderstorm looks like You know the ones that drop the tornadoes right now

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If you've ever heard anyone say if you want to hear the voice of God You have to learn how to hear the still small voice

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Pa no one ever quotes this text because God isn't talking out of the still small voice

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He literally in answer to Job's question sends a supercell thunderstorm 30 ,000 feet high it's dropped an f3 tornado and it's barreling right at him and God's gonna speak to him out of that Okay.

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Now, I don't know about you Just the scenery at this point the context in which God is gonna speak to him would have made my knees buckle

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But then God first words out of God's mouth are who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?

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If this were Donald if this were like Daffy Duck his bill would have fallen off if I were there

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I may have lost control of my bladder. I mean, that's how frightening this is

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You don't want God talking to you this way. So God says dress for action like a man I'm gonna question you and you make it known to me.

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Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if you have understanding who determined its measurements surely, you know

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Who stretched the line upon it or on what were its bases sunk or who laid its cornerstone

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When the morning star sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy Yeah, everything's coming up blank for poor job right and in the midst of his suffering

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This is how God deals with him Although kind of fascinating we get a little extra information about the creation of the world

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God reveals just a little bit more if it wasn't for this text we would have never known that when

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God was speaking the universe into existence and he laid the Cornerstone of the earth that the stars and the sons of God.

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These are the angels they shouted for joy It says did you know that God had set up bleachers to watch him while he was creating the universe?

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I had no idea until this text Revealed this to me beautiful picture and then God continues who shot in the sea with doors when it burst forth from the womb

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Did you know the sea had a womb no idea? That's news to me and when

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I made clouds its garment thick darkness It's swaddling band and prescribed limits for it and set bars and doors and thus said thus far

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Shall you come and no farther and here shall your proud waves be stayed you notice verse 11 here

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God seems to have a habit of speaking to his creation and his creation listens now

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We have an insult that we use here in the United States I have to say that because with people listening from around the world

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But the insult we say and it's terrible to use don't use it If you do repent and don't worry, we'll absolve you

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But have you ever been tempted to or have said of somebody that person is dumber than a box of rocks?

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It it's basically meant to say the person's not a very bright bulb They haven't got all things working inside of their brain, but I'm gonna argue this that is an insult to rocks

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Let me explain. Okay in Luke chapter 19 Jesus his triumphal entry into Jerusalem They're laying palm branches in front of that donkey and shouting

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Hosanna Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord right and the Pharisees are saying

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Jesus you told them to stop you told them to be quiet Jesus's response if they don't shout the rocks will

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Have you thought about this the wind the rocks the sea They all know the voice of their

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Creator and they hear it and listen to it But we because we are born dead and trespasses and sins and because of our rebellion against God We when we hear the voice of God go

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Or put our fingers in our ears like spoiled brat children.

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La la la la la la la can't hear you God The rocks are smarter than we are You know

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So a better way to put it kind of in our context then is is let's change that statement Rather than dumber than a box of rocks.

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How about dumber than a boat of disciples a little better So now all of that being said we've noticed that God has this habit of talking to his creation

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His creation listens to him and does what it's supposed to do except for humans So coming back then to our text

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Jesus rebuked the wind he told the waves be still they listened to him Yeah, how can that be?

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Who is this guy? Well, remember what Matthew reveals regarding the prophecies about Jesus that are recorded in Isaiah We all know the song right unto us a son is given unto us

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A son is given right? We all know the song we sing these songs which is a prophecy from Isaiah chapter 9 verse 6 and Listen to these words from the prophecy

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The government shall be upon his shoulder and his name shall be called wonderful Counselor What the mighty

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God the everlasting father the prince of peace?

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You see Isaiah said of the Messiah that he would be called the mighty God Which means he is

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God who is this fellow indeed? In fact, Isaiah 714 which is quoted again in all of the prophecies regarding Christ in the

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New Testament Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign behold. The Virgin shall conceive and bear a son and you shall call his name

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Emmanuel which means God with Us.

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Well, if this is true, and by the way it is Then we can begin to see that what truly happened on that boat

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And this is where I want to kind of rework one of the details remember the question the really stupid question Don't you care that we're perishing?

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All right, let's kind of rework that so now we've got all the characters in their proper place We got the boat full of dumber than rocks or actually.

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Yeah dumber than rocks disciples Yeah, you're right. We've got

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Jesus who's God in human flesh asleep on the cushion We've got a storm on the Sea of Galilee and watch what happens then

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So what truly happened is is that the disciples? Unwittingly ended up in this really bad prayer praying to Jesus that dumb question was in fact a prayer

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Now granted as far as prayers go That's kind of up there in the annals of like bad prayers and like in the history of all mankind

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That's way up on the top of the list of like worst prayers of all time But it was a prayer

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None the less listen again to how the text works a great windstorm arose verse 37 Waves were breaking into the boat

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The boat was already filling and he was Jesus was asleep in the cook on the cushion the captain's

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Cushion really and they woke him and said teacher. Do you not care that we are perishing? Now if you've read the

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Psalms the Psalms have there's entire Psalms that kind of are in this same tone, you know

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God Where are you? Why have you hidden your face from me? If you don't respond? I'm going to die if you don't respond the waters are gonna cover my head

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I'm gonna drown and end up in Sheol and how am I gonna praise you from there? You know, there are literally prayers like that in the

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Psalms. This is kind of in that category But it's a lot worse. Don't you care that we're perishing so prayer as bad as it is

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They actually spoke it to the right guy God in human flesh So let's consider then this reality who

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Jesus truly is Turn with me to John chapter 1 verse 1 and I want to note we're gonna fast -forward in time a little bit remember the guy who wrote the gospel of John was on this boat and At this point in time we read in the gospel mark.

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He went along with the other disciples We're basically asking the question. Who is this guy? but consider now the mature older John Who is a witness to Jesus's death and resurrection and his ascension into heaven

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Decades later wrote these words in the beginning was the word the word was with God and the word was

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God He was in the beginning with God and all Things were made through him.

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You see that event on the Sea of Galilee Forced him to come to grips and really dig hard into the question.

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Who is this Jesus? because the creation listens to him as if he's God and the reason why it does is because he is and so later as his theology matures

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He recognizes and proclaims to us that because the in Jesus all things were made through him and without him was not

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Anything that was made and in him was life and the life was the light of men And then

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I see in Creed when we confess that every other week then I see in Creed we confess these words Jesus is

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God of God light of light very God of very God begotten not made being of one substance with the father

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By all by whom all things were made You see that's who he is and then

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Paul writes these wonderful words in Colossians chapter 1 starting at verse 15

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Jesus is the image the iconos of the invisible God He's the firstborn of all creation a little bit of a note here

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The old Aryan heretics would argue. Well, if Jesus is the firstborn of all creation, that means he's created

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No you can really kind of translate this as the preeminent over all creation because if you've ever if And you grow up in a family where you had like brothers and sisters, you know

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I don't know what it is nowadays people have like 1 .2 kids. I don't know how you do that but You know back in the day, you know, we had brothers and sisters, you know

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You and so and the kid who was always in charge was who? The firstborn they were the one with all the responsibility

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They were the one with that would get it the worst if they misbehaved right and they were the one on whom all of the family

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Expectations fell the firstborn so that's the idea Jesus is the preeminent one the firstborn of all creation for by him all things were created including the

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Sea of Galilee the wind and the rocks in Heaven on earth visible invisible whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities all things were created through him and for Him and he is before all things and in him all things hold together

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He is the head of the body the church He's the beginning the firstborn from the dead that in everything he might be preeminent for in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell and through him to reconcile to himself all things

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Whether on earth or in heaven making peace by the blood of his cross and so there we are all of us as awful and Ignorant and blind by our sin as we are and you got to note that it's not gospel to hear that Jesus That God is among us in human flesh

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That actually could be bad news That could really be bad news But the good news is is that rather than come and judge us as we all deserve

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Instead Jesus came in order to reconcile us to himself By bleeding and dying for all of our idolatries all of our sinful wickedness all of our sick and sinful blindness and all of our sinful stupidity

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Sin has not made us better it has made us marred satanic worse

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The good news is he has reconciled us to himself and you who were once alienated and hostile in mind

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That's right. Each and every one of us. He used to be hostile in mind to God doing evil deeds He is now reconciled in his body of flesh by his death in order to present you and I love these words to present you holy blameless and Above reproach before him you see not only does did

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Jesus speak the world into existence Not only can he speak to the creation and it listens to him But he by bleeding and dying for your sin and your rebellion he now

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Presents you and me Before God before the creation before the angels themselves as holy blameless and above reproach

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This is truly good news. And then he says this if if you continue in the faith

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The faith in Christ the faith in our God who came to earth to save us if you continue in this faith

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You will be presented before God as holy blameless and above reproach Don't shift then from the hope of the gospel that you heard which has been proclaimed in all creation under heaven and of which

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I Paul Have become a minister Jesus is whom we are to look for all good

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Not Netflix not alcohol not drugs not money not sex Jesus we are to look to him for all good and in whom we find refuge in every time of need

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To have Jesus is nothing else than the trust and to believe him with our whole heart as Psalm 46 says

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God is our refuge and strength and a very present help in times of trouble

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Let me tweak that just a little bit and it doesn't even change the meaning Jesus is our refuge and our strength and he is a very present help in times of trouble and Therefore we will not fear though.

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The earth gives way Though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea though Its waters roar and foam though the mountains tremble at its swelling.

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We will not fear Because we have nothing to fear because we are in Christ. And so if you decided to get on that crazy

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Mexican Airlines and Shock of all shocks the engines give out and you find yourself plummeting towards the earth

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You do not need to fear Because he is an ever -present help in times of trouble even at the time of your death

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Whether that your death comes in a flaming airplane crash or a car crash or a languishing death like cancer or a

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Sudden end like a heart attack You need not fear Because your

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Jesus your God has bled and died for you and he has declared you to be holy Blameless and above reproach.

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He has clothed you with his own righteousness So that you can stand in the very presence of God without fear and those angels that rejoiced when the creation was made rejoice with every sinner who repents and trusts in this great

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God of ours and so Like the disciples then we can pray to Jesus and hopefully our prayers will be a little better than theirs was

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But their prayer was to the right person it was to God himself and so Paul says in Philippians 4

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We Christians then are to rejoice in the Lord always again I'll say rejoice so let your reasonableness be known to everybody.

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The Lord is at hand Do not be anxious about anything

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There's nothing you need to be anxious about instead in everything by prayer

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Supplication With Thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God and the peace of God that same peace that came over the

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Sea of Galilee that day which surpasses all understandings this will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus So brothers and sisters this text teaches us that Christ is the one to whom we are to turn in our times of trouble

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People like to call them the storms of life and I understand that and that there's something true to that But just remember the way we get through these storms of life and these times of trouble is not by walking on the water but by crying out to our

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God our merciful kind Jesus Who knows our weakness and still in his great love for us has come to save us and to?

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Declare us righteous and bring us to an earth a new earth that he will be creating a world without end where there is no sin

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No destruction to life everlasting Well, finally the devil and all those who follow him will no longer be in sight and we will be like him when he appears

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Holy sinless in a new world a world without end seeing our great God and Savior face -to -face in days that never ever

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Ever get closer to an end, but always continue on As he is eternal.

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We will spend eternity with him in the name of Jesus Amen, if you would like to support the teaching ministry of kungs vineyard

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Lutheran Church You can do so by sending a tax -free donation to kungs vineyard Lutheran Church 159 50 470th

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Avenue Northwest Oslo, Minnesota 5 6 7 4 4 and again that address is kungs vineyard

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Lutheran Church 159 5 0 470th

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