Dr. Tony Evans is the founder and senior pastor of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, founder and president of The Urban Alternative and author of over 100 books, booklets and Bible studies. The first African American to earn a doctorate of theology from Dallas Theological Seminary, he has been named one of the 12 Most Effective Preachers in the English-Speaking World by Baylor University. Dr. Evans holds the honor of writing and publishing the first full-Bible commentary and study Bible by an African American. His radio broadcast, The Alternative with Dr. Tony Evans, can be heard on over 1,400 radio outlets daily and in more than 130 countries. Dr. Evans’ sermons are also streamed and downloaded over 20,000,000 times annually.

without him you cannot

but without you he will not

when we travel across a bridge it

typically means

that two bodies of land have been

separated

by a challenge this bridge

is designed to take you from where you

are

to where you are trying to go the bridge

that god has constructed

for you to move from the natural to the

supernatural is the bridge called

faith unbelief will keep you stuck where

you are

unbelief is so powerful it’ll stop

god’s work in your life he says

i believe help my uncle

he said i believe but i’m shaky will you

give me what i lack so i can go deep

enough to believe

so even if your faith is weak you’ve got

a faith helper

so get ready for your miracle

as long as you cross the bridge

[Music]

it’s easy to miss the supernatural

happening right in front of your eyes

because you have a perspective that is

is limited

that you will never see the supernatural

unless you believe first

we define faith as acting like god is

telling the truth

acting like it is so even when it’s not

so in order that it might be so

simply because god said so and faith is

measured by feet not by feelings

by movement not by what you say out of

your mouth

faith must be exercised in order to be

real that’s why the bible calls it

walking

by faith

here is our situation

we have these disciples

who are in a difficult scenario

a scenario in which

peter is going to take a risk

a risk is where you take a chance

without being assured of how things are

going to work out

now you and i are used to taking risk in

life

we take risk all the time if you’re

invested in the stock market you’re

taking a risk

a risk that things are going to go up

ultimately and not ultimately go

down risk taking is

a major part of life but it’s

interesting

how many people will take

a risk in life who won’t bet on god

they will risk things that people tell

them

but who won’t gamble on god in the sense

of

a risk where you are not

absolutely certain how it’s going to

wind up

in the bible many people had to take

risks they had to bet

on god while being uncertain about where

things were going to wind up

for example esther went before the king

and said i’m going to go and i’m gonna

stand before him and

if i perish i perish i’m not sure

where this is gonna wind up but i’m

gonna i’m gonna place my bet

if you will the three hebrew boys

meshach shadrach

and abednego took their stand before

nebuchadnezzar and said

our god is able to deliver us but if he

doesn’t

they took a risk not being certain how

this thing was going to wind up

the children of israel walked when the

red sea opened up on dry ground with a

mountain of water on both sides

taking a risk that it wouldn’t collapse

while they were walking through they

took a chance

and the bible calls it faith because

it’s talking about

betting on god we’re talking about

do you place a bet on him

do you

bet on god the disciples

are in a stormy situation

while in the will of god

jesus has told them to get in the boat

and cross over to the other side

they get in the boat to cross over the

other side

so they are perfectly in god’s will they

are

obeying him they are doing exactly what

he told them to do

so this sermon today is particularly for

those

who are seeking to please god you are

intentionally

obeying god you are doing exactly what

god

has told you to do to the best of your

ability

you’re not living in sin you’re not uh

living in

unconfessed sin you’re not in rebellion

you’re not walking away from god

and yet you’re in a storm

so the first thing you need to know is

you can be in the will of god and

in a storm at the same time it says the

wind was contrary

in other words they trying to go this

way and the wind is blowing that way

you ever been in a situation where

you’re trying to please god

you’re in a storm and the harder you

work to go where god wants you to go the

more resistance you’re getting to arrive

there

it says the wind was contrary in other

words it was blowing against the

direction

they were trying to go in so they ruined

to go this way

and the wind is blowing that way so

they’re not making

any progress and they’re in the will of

god and it’s a storm

we also just read it was the fourth

watch

the fourth watch is 3 a.m to 6 a.m

so it’s dark it’s dark

okay wait a minute i’m doing what god

told me to do

i’m obeying god i’m in a storm

stuff is blowing me back from the way

i’m supposed to go

and i can’t see straight it’s dark

well first of all jesus speaks verse 27

but immediately

jesus spoke to them saying take care it

is i do not be afraid

okay so wait a minute the inner storm

and they get a sermon

okay

they see this figure coming to him

there’s enough

moonlight for them to see something

walking on the water

so we got 12 grown men screaming

they’re scared got 12 bucks roman

screaming and jesus says

don’t be afraid it is i

i get a sermon

now peter speaks my boy pete

peter said to him verse 28 lord if it is

you

command me to come to you on the water

and he jesus said come and peter got out

of the boat

and walked on the water and came toward

jesus

okay watch this now jesus gives a sermon

to all 12. he says

don’t be discouraged it is i be not

afraid

don’t be discouraged it is i be not

afraid don’t be discouraged

it is i be not afraid they got a sermon

and everybody all 12 heard the same

sermon

peter says i can’t speak for the other

11

but bid me to come

based on your general word it is you

i need a personal word directed to peter

that will allow me to experience the

miraculous

even in a stormy situation

when you hear a general word don’t stop

there

don’t be satisfied with a sermon

and don’t be satisfied that at least i

was in the boat i showed up

no you need a personal word

where god speaks to you and tells you

peter or patrice come

where you hear his voice directed to

your unique

situation now remember now

all 12 are in god’s will because all 12

are doing what god said

but peter says i want something more

i want to experience the miraculous

because i want to walk on water

now you kids can’t walk on water

that’s a supernatural request he makes a

specific request this is not general

lord bless me today

i want to walk on water

now watch this now watch this

he wants to walk on water because jesus

is walking on water

they’re not expecting jesus in the storm

let me explain something

one of the reasons jesus allows you to

be in the storm

is for you to see what he looks like in

a stormy situation

one of the reasons he allows you in his

will

to go through a storm is he wants you to

see him

as you’ve never seen him before see

it’s easy and nice and sweet to see him

in church

but when you see him walking on the

storm

watch this and the storm is the problem

so god allows storms so you can

see how he uses your problems as a

staircase for his presence

he actually uses the storm to walk on

it so he’s walking on the problem

because the problem is a storm peter

says i want to walk on the problem too

you walking on the problem i want to

walk on the problem i want to know what

it feels like

to walk on my problem rather than my

problem walking on me

and he’s in the will of god now watch

this

only peter makes the request

none of the other 11 do but wait a

minute

just before this happens the story that

precedes this

is jesus feeding the five thousand and

all twelve saw it

so they were exposed to the same

miracles

they had been exposed to the same

teaching of jesus for the time they’d

been with him

and they had all heard him say

be encouraged don’t be afraid it is

odd so it’s not that jesus had favorites

because they were all exposed to the

same thing

it’s just that peter exercised

faith the others were satisfied

with the sermon with the word

so the 11 don’t get to experience the

supernatural

only peter does

one of the things we discover so far is

that obedience can lead to rough sailing

you can obey god and be in a rough

situation

so he gets out of the boat and guess

what

peter is walking on water oh

no you didn’t peter is walking on the

water

the water is the problem it’s a storm

so what is peter doing he’s walking on

his problem

because he’s walking on a stormy

situation but something goes

wrong verse 30

but seeing the wind

he became frightened

and began to sink he cried out lord

save me immediately jesus stretched out

his hand

and took hold of him and said to him you

of little faith

why did you doubt

peter’s walking on water

but seeing the wind you can’t see wind

wind is invisible so what he was seeing

was the effect

of the wind on the water

he was seeing the storm the wind whip up

whip up the water

seeing the wind but wait man he saw the

wind before he got out the boat

because we were already told there was a

storm so this is not

new sight it was a shift in focus

he is now focusing on the wind

and when he focuses on the bigness

of the problem he begins to go under

he begins to sink

the shift in focus from the jesus who

called him

to the circumstances he’s in changed him

from being a

victor into a victim

his circumstances replaced his savior

and when his circumstances replaced his

savior

his circumstances took over and began to

suck him under

he became subject to the circumstances

once his eyes left the savior when his

eyes

were on the savior his circumstance did

not change

he was still in a storm but the

difference was

he was on top of it and it wasn’t on top

of him

the way you know your focus is right

is whether it’s not whether the

circumstance changes

it’s whether you’re on top of it or it’s

on top of you

of whether you’re walking on it or it’s

sucking you

under jesus says to him

o ye of little faith he didn’t say to

him oh you of no faith

he said to you oh you of little faith

so he went from big faith because he got

out the boat

too little faith in the matter of

seconds

how do you go from big faith that gets

you started

too little faith that’s about to drown

you

focus will determine faith

and faith or faithlessness will

determine

fear he lost his faith

because of the growth of fear but fear

only grew

because faith diminished and faith only

diminished

because focus was shifted let me say it

another way

when your focus shifts your faith

diminishes

when your faith diminishes your fear

grows

it is the focus that is the key

when he shifted his focus to his

circumstance

fear grew faith diminished he went from

great faith to little faith because

he let the circumstance trump the savior

when you see great people in the bible

do great things and bet on god

take a risk take a chance on god

not knowing how this thing’s going to

work out fully

it’s because of their focus

when david was facing a storm called

goliath everybody was afraid it says

first samuel 17 everybody was scared

everybody was terrified of this nine

foot six giant

but while everybody else was looking up

here at how tall he was

david was looking between his legs and

say he ain’t been circumcised

he ain’t been cut big boy ain’t been to

the doctor

that’s what he said he says who is this

uncircumcised philistine

in first samuel 17 verse 26 and 36 who

is this guy

who hadn’t been to the doubt who does he

think he is and he hadn’t even been to

the doctor

because circumcision was a sign of the

covenant the covenant was god’s covering

he was saying that man ain’t covered by

god he big

but he ain’t that big he bad but he

ain’t that bad

because he doesn’t have any divine

covering over him

so give me my slingshot give me my stone

because his focus

was different than everybody else’s

focus he was looking

at the circumcision they were looking at

the size and if you look at the size

you’re going to run if you look at the

circumcision you’re going to take your

stand

it all depends on what you’re looking at

it is a matter of which is why praise is

so important because praise

shifts your focus that’s why there are

these distractions that are coming in

in the middle of your circumstance to

suck you under

and to drown you and to keep you from

walking on it rather than it sucking on

you

you want the miraculous you want to walk

on water

because some of us our miracle is not

something changing

our miracle is not drowning in it

because this it’s just it’s just sucking

you undone

i want to invite you to a savior who i

love this

he cries out lord save me okay so why

would god let me drown

god will let your circumstances pull you

under because he knows that’s the only

way

he’s going to get you to refocus

so he’ll let he’ll he’ll let you go

under a little bit

not because he’s trying to kill you he’s

trying to get you to do what peter did

peter said peter looked at the waves he

looked at the wind he looked at all his

bad stuff

he began to go under he knew he couldn’t

swim and save himself

so he knew he only had one other option

and that was to go back to the one who

told him leave the boat in the first

place

so he says lord save me and jesus said

that’s what i was waiting for

god wants you to focus on him because of

what

he plans to do and how does this

conclude

jesus stretches out his hand he says why

do you have little faith you got a

little bit

but you’re sinking with a little when

they got into the boat the wind stopped

and those were in the boat worshiped him

saying you are certainly god’s son

you know why god does the miraculous

so you can see who he really is

so you can see this ain’t no ordinary

person you’re dealing with here

jesus is not a just a regular guy he’s

not just a

superhero he’s not just a great

religious figure

if you want to walk on water you got to

get out the boat

or you’ll be like the el other 11 you’ll

be in the boat

listening to a message and never be able

to testify

you know all they could do was piggyback

off of peter’s testimony

they couldn’t talk about the day i

walked on water

they could only talk about the day i saw

my brother

walk on water and after a while you

should be tired of hearing

other folk testimony because you want a

testimony

that is your own where you can say yes

yes i heard the sermon but i stepped out

the boat

i heard the message but i went to

walking and stepping

and i saw what god could do

or else all you’ll be able to do is

report on somebody else’s report card

because you don’t have a report card of

your own

where you stepped out a boy one day was

a boy one day was in a plane and the

plane was in turbulence you know

a big storm and everybody’s screaming

and hollering and the boy is playing in

the seat he’s playing in the sea

the lady beside him is getting all

frustrated boy how can you be playing at

a time like this

how can you be playing at a time like

this he said

well my father’s in the cockpit see when

you know who’s under the controls you

can

you can handle the turbulence a lot

differently than we don’t know who’s in

the cockpit

and i love the way this story is by the

way uh wro

uh hebrews 12 2 says jesus is the author

and

finisher of your faith the originator

and the completer

okay he gets you out of the boat

and he leads you on the water to back in

the boat

he doesn’t get you started with

something he doesn’t intend on finishing

jesus hebrews 12 2 says is the author

and finisher

of your faith so if you stick focused on

him

he will get you started and bring you to

completion

and i like how this story ends the story

doesn’t end here

this story is found in this passage

mark chapter 6. it’s found in john

chapter 6.

let me tell you about john 6 21 let me

tell you about john 6 21.

in john 6 21 which tells you the same

story

it says immediately when jesus got in

the boat they were at dry land

now you don’t see it here but you see it

in john okay i don’t know if you’re

i don’t know if you got that they are

stuck in the middle of the sea

the galilean sea they are stuck there

they remember the wind is contrary

so they’re not making any progress

they’re not going anywhere

jesus is walking on water peter goes out

to meet him he and peter walk back to

the boat

they get in the boat john 6 21 says and

immediately when they got in the boat

they were at dry land let me tell you

something about jesus when jesus

finishes doing

what he’s trying to do in your life it

don’t take that long

it says immediately god covered the

distance

that they were in lack unable to cover

whenever you get this thing right with

god

he can turn it on to die he can tweak it

overnight

he can flip it tweak it flap it he can

do

something with it that’ll blow your mind

and all you’ll be able to say is

where in the world did that come from i

don’t know how

that just happened because the god i’m

talking about

can turn it on a dime so i’m asking you

to place your bet oh by the way i don’t

know if you know it

but a turtle can only make progress

when it sticks his head out see if it

keeps his head in

it ain’t going nowhere in order for it

to go somewhere

it got to stick his head out so i’m

inviting you to

stick your head out and take a risk on

jesus

christ and believe that he who has begun

a good work in you

will complete it until the jay of jesus

christ

bless the name of the lord who’s worth

placing a bet on

for the miraculous in the midst of a

[Music]

storm

i know faith can be risky business

[Music]

because we’re asked to believe god and

trust god

and sometimes the weirdest of

circumstances

i will admit for myself and i know

you’ve been there too

when things are tumultuous when there’s

no answer in sight

and jesus wants us to keep our eyes

focused on him

and believe when it looks like it’s

unbelievable

to take a step out on god when

we’re not sure whether we can stay up

yep faith is a risk and what makes the

big

risk is we’re believing in a god we

don’t see

a savior who’s in heaven and not

physically with us

circumstance we don’t understand boy you

put all that together

and it even sounds riskier

the question that we have to answer

since god is god is he worthy of the

risk

you see we take risk all the time in our

lives don’t we

we risk on the plane getting to its

destination

we take a risk on the stoma stock market

continuing going up over time

we take a risk when we do things that

that are for the first time and we’re

nervous about it so

risk-taking is not unusual to us

if we are willing to take a risk on

things that are in the natural realm

then we ought to be willing to take a

risk on the things that are in the

supernatural realm

since god is overseeing that realm and

he is worthy

of risk-taking if you’re going to bet

bet on god because that is a bet

worth making

[Music]

you