Hope Floats
In Matthew 14:22-33, we are told of the time when Jesus walked on water. According to the account, the disciples were in a boat when they saw Jesus walking on the water toward them. Peter wanted to come to Jesus and so the Messiah told him to get out of the boat and come to Him. For a time, Peter as able to walk on the water, but it was not long before he took his eyes off Jesus and began to sink.
As Peter sank, he cried out to Jesus to save him. Surprisingly, Peter did not know how to swim (You would have thought that would have been mandatory for a fisherman). Jesus reached out to him, pulling Peter out of the water. It was at this point that Jesus said to Peter, “You of little faith. Why did you doubt?”
Courage and Fear
This account provides an interesting contrast. Peter saw Jesus walking on the water and wanted to join Him. In faith, He was willing to do whatever it took to join Jesus. As a result, he could walk on water. This occurred because of one simple command from Jesus – “Come.”
However, at some point, Peter took his eyes off Jesus and it was not long afterward that he began to sink. He cried out to Jesus to be saved, and Jesus reached down into the water, lifting him out. At this point Jesus asked him why he doubted?
Most people will read this account and shake their heads at Peter’s unbelief, or at least at his doubt. The problem is that almost all of us are the exact same way. We frequently take our eyes of Jesus, letting the “wind” of life cause fear and doubt. Soon, we are sinking in the cares and concerns of the world.
At one point, those cares were pulling us so deep that we cried out “Lord, save me!” We recognized that our lives needed Jesus and that it was time to turn to Him. As we walk with Jesus, we will still have doubts at times. Honestly, we will all lose faith. We will all fall short. We will all worry.
God Knows Our Fears
If you have been a Christian for any length of time, your pastor has probably preached messages from passages like Philippians 4:6, which tells us not to fear. We are assured that there is no reason to fear. God has our backs.
All of that is true. However, God understands that we do fear. David had a whole series of messages in the Psalm that said just that. Psalm 94:19 begins by saying, “When anxiety was great within me.” Psalm 56:3 starts with “When I am afraid.” We are going to be afraid. That is perfectly natural for us.
However, what makes our God so amazing is that, in our fears, He is close. He has brought us joy in our anxiety (Psalm 94:19) and we can put our trust in God when we are afraid (Psalm 56:3). God does not shake His head at us when we have doubts and fears. Instead, He says what Jesus said to Peter, “Come.”
You see, When the disciples saw Jesus walking on the water, Matthew 14:26 tells us that they were afraid. Peter was probably afraid to get out of the boat and go to Jesus, but he did so because Jesus told him to come. He had faith that Jesus would keep him from drowning. When he was drowning, he still had faith that Jesus would save him.
Truthfully, we need to take a page from Peter. We are going to be afraid and anxious to walk in the ways of God. Jesus is still telling us to do so. When we falter, when we look away and get worried about the “winds” around us, we can know that Jesus is going to lift us out of the struggles, saving us.
Can Hope “Walk” on Water?
This Saturday, we are going to see how much faith we have here at Hope CDA. We are entered in the Freedom Festival Cardboard Boat Regatta which will be at Robbins Lake in Ellis Park. The event starts at 9:00.
Trent Tuel, Shawn Morgan, Tristian Lane, Alex Santiago-Rios, Logan Klein, A.J. Wiley, and Chuck Burch have all played a part in getting our cardboard boat together. To be honest, we don’t know how well our boat is going to do.
We are scheduled to race the Spring Valley Dental Care team. We don’t know how good their team is. We don’t even know if our boat will sail to be honest. No matter what, we ask you to follow the command that Jesus gave to Peter – Come. Come out and watch us race. Logan, Tristian, Kaleb Duerre, and Zach Early will be our team on the water. May they keep their eyes on Jesus and He keep the boat afloat.
Hope Good News
As mentioned above, Hope CDA will be competing in the Cardboard Boat Regatta at 9:00 a.m on Saturday. Please come out and watch us race. We will also be in the Freedom Day Parade. That starts at 3:30. Please come and join us in the fun… We will celebrate Ben Heath’s completion of his HiSET degree by having a “high school” graduation party for him on Sunday, June 29, from 3-5 p.m. at 211 Park Court, SE… We will also celebrate Ben’s graduation from Hope CDA on July 7, at Mission of Hope. The ceremony begins at 6:00 p.m… Two new men will be joining the program in about two weeks. Mike Rickert graduated the program but is facing a hard time and wants to get his life back on track. He will join on July 2. Jason Nichols will join on July 7.
Volunteer Opportunity
The 5th Annual Hope CDA gala will be on Thursday, October 2. We are looking for volunteers to help Dr. Robert Pannier with some of the administrative tasks. Please contact Rob if you would like to help or want more information (Rob.P@HopeCDAcr.org).
Prayers for the Week
We ask you to join in prayer for these things:
- We pray for the events this upcoming weekend. May we represent God well and may that inspire people to get involved with Hope CDA
- We pray for Mike and Jason. May they enter the program and truly turn their lives around.
- We pray for the planning of the gala. May this be a spectacular event that will draw people to want to get involved at Hope CDA.
Tuesday Night Encouragement at Hope CDA
This Tuesday, July 1, we will have a special night of testimonies. That will include testimonies from four current participants (Joseph Mason, Clayton Albert, Jason Young, and Logan Klein) as well as from foreman Joseph Jurgensmeier. This should be a very inspiring night, so please come and join us. The testimonies begin at 6:00 p.m.
On Tuesday, July 8, Pastor Jason Ishmael from Antioch Church will speak. Jason is amazing and will deliver a very inspirational message. Please join us then as well.
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