Hope - Part 2 - Storms

The narrative centers on Jesus and his disciples caught in a violent Sea of Galilee storm to draw out timeless truths about suffering, faith, and God’s sovereignty. The account opens by establishing storms as an ordinary reality of life—sudden, powerful, and often unavoidable—and insists that belonging to Jesus does not exempt anyone from hardship. In the boat the disciples knew the water and the wind, yet the storm arrived with seismic force, illustrating that familiarity with faith does not prevent a crisis from arriving. The scene then emphasizes a startling contrast: while waves smashed over the vessel and panic rose, Jesus slept, showing that the turmoil that terrifies humans does not unsettle the divine. That calmness does not mean indifference; rather, it reveals a God who knows, cares, and remains unshaken amid chaos.

When the disciples awake Jesus in desperation, their cry models the right response: turn to him. The text challenges common reactions—self-reliance, frantic planning, paralysis, or resignation—and calls for immediate, repeated turning to Jesus both as first resort and continual refuge. Faith receives correction and an invitation: fear narrows vision to problems, while faith restores perspective by seeing problems through God’s presence and power. The narrative culminates with Jesus rebuking wind and waves, instantly stilling the storm and demonstrating authority over nature. That display does not promise an identical resolution in every trial, but it guarantees presence, power, and ultimate supremacy over any tempest. The conclusion issues a pastoral invitation to repent, trust, and experience divine peace in the middle of life’s fiercest storms.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Storms are a natural part of life Storms arrive without warning and do not indicate divine abandonment or spiritual failure. Normalizing their presence prevents spiritual shame and encourages practical preparedness: expect difficulty, name it honestly, and resist equating trial with punishment. Recognizing storms as ordinary frees attention to how one responds spiritually rather than why the storm exists. [31:09]
• 2. Storms do not trouble Jesus Divine calm amid chaos signals knowledge and care, not ignorance or indifference. The image of Jesus sleeping while the boat rocks shows that God’s sovereignty transcends panic and that God’s composure becomes a refuge for terrified hearts. Trust anchors not in the absence of storms but in an unshakable presence within them. [37:55]
• 3. Turn to Jesus in storms Turning to Christ changes the posture of suffering from self-reliance to dependence, from scrambling to prayer. Desperation often produces the most honest prayers; making Jesus the first call cultivates steadier faith and clearer wisdom under pressure. Habitual turning rewires responses so crises become encounters with grace, not merely problems to be solved alone. [44:49]
• 4. Choose faith instead of fear Fear narrows vision to the size of the problem; faith stretches vision to the size of God. Faith does not deny danger but interprets it through God’s character and promises, enabling courage and wise action. Repeated practice of trusting God in small trials trains the heart for larger storms. [47:33]
• 5. No storm can match Jesus Authority over wind and waves shows that no circumstance ultimately overpowers divine power. Immediate deliverance in one instance does not obligate identical outcomes every time, but it guarantees God’s capacity to intervene, accompany, or sanctify through suffering. Grounded hope rests on sovereignty, not on predictable outcomes. [54:13]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [30:05] - Fear, phobias, and context
• [30:48] - Matthew 8: disciples on the lake
• [31:09] - Storms are a natural part of life
• [35:15] - Following Jesus still meets storms
• [37:55] - Jesus sleeps: not troubled by storms
• [44:49] - Disciples cry out: "Lord, save us"
• [47:33] - Faith required; fear corrected
• [51:57] - Trouble in the world, yet hope
• [54:13] - Jesus rebukes wind and waves
• [59:14] - Invitation: turn to Jesus today
• [63:38] - Prayer ministry and response
• [64:32] - Closing prayer and send-off

Bible reading: Matthew 8:23-27 (ESV)
23 And when he got into the boat, his disciples followed him. 24 And behold, there arose a great storm on the sea, so that the boat was being swamped by the waves; but he was asleep. 25 And they went and woke him, saying, “Save us, Lord; we are perishing.” 26 And he said to them, “Why are you afraid, O you of little faith?” Then he rose and rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 27 And the men marveled, saying, “What sort of man is this, that even winds and sea obey him?”

Observation questions

1. What details does the passage provide about the nature and severity of the storm the disciples faced?
2. What was Jesus doing while the storm raged and the disciples panicked?
3. What was the specific cry of the disciples when they woke Jesus, and what does this reveal about their state of mind?
4. What was the immediate result after Jesus spoke to the wind and the waves?

Interpretation questions

1. The disciples were literally following Jesus when the storm hit. What does this tell us about the relationship between obedience to God and encountering difficulties in life? [35:15]
2. Jesus asked the disciples why they were afraid and called their faith "little." Given that they had just witnessed multiple miracles, why might it be harder to have faith when a crisis is personal rather than when observing someone else's? [49:42]
3. The text says the men "marveled" after the storm was calmed. What does their amazement, and their question about what kind of man Jesus is, reveal about their understanding of who He is at this point?
4. The sermon made a distinction between looking at God through your circumstances and looking at your circumstances through God. What is the practical difference between these two perspectives? [51:20]

Application questions

1. Storms are a natural part of life and do not indicate divine abandonment. [31:09] What is a current or recent "storm" you have faced? How did you initially interpret its presence in your life?
2. The things that trouble us do not trouble Jesus. His calm in chaos signals knowledge and care, not ignorance or indifference. [37:55] How can remembering God's unshakable composure become a practical refuge for your heart when you feel terrified?
3. The disciples' first response was to cry out, "Lord, save us." [44:49] When a difficulty arises, what is your typical first resort—self-reliance, frantic planning, or turning to Jesus in prayer? What would it look like to make Him your first call more consistently?
4. Fear narrows vision to the size of the problem, while faith stretches vision to the size of God. [47:33] Identify a situation where fear is currently narrowing your vision. What is one specific promise of God's character or power that can help you view that situation through the lens of faith?
5. Jesus' authority over the storm demonstrates that no circumstance ultimately overpowers divine power, though the outcome may not always be immediate deliverance. [54:13] How does grounding your hope in God's sovereignty, rather than in a specific outcome, change the way you walk through a prolonged difficulty?
6. The invitation is to turn to Jesus and experience his peace in the midst of the storm, not just after it. [59:14] What is one tangible step you can take this week to "turn to him" in the middle of your circumstances, rather than waiting for the storm to pass?