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