Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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INTRODUCTION
THE DUTCH PAINTER VINCENT VAN GOGH BORE A CERTAIN FASCINATION ABOUT STORMS AND THE POWER OF
GOD’S CREATED ORDER....AMONG THE MOST
FAMOUS OF THE IMPRESSIONIST PAINTERS, ONE OF HIS PIECES.... “VIEW OF THE SEA AT Scheveningen”
WAS REMEMBERED FOR THE LENGTHS WE WENT TO, TO PAINT IT.....HE RECALLED OF THE DAY HE PAINTED IT:
“The wind was so strong that I could barely stay on my feet and barely see through the clouds of sand.”
Van Gogh made this painting on the beach, in a raging storm.
Grains of sand blew into the paint.
They can be seen
under the microscope.
IT WAS OUT OF HIS GOD-GIVEN CURIOSITY, GIFT FOR ARTISTRY AND CONCERNS FOR GENERATIONS THAT WOULD
FOLLOW HIM THAT PUSHED HIM INTO TWO
DIRECTIONS EVIDENT IN THESE 2 QUOTES ABOUT STORMS ATTRIBUTED TO HIM:
“The heart of man is very much like the sea, it has its storms, it has its tides and in its depths it has its pearls too”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh
“There is peace even in the storm”
― Vincent van Gogh, The Letters of Vincent van Gogh
BELOVEDS, ST.
LUKE AND ALL THE GOSPEL WRITERS FIND WAYS TO TELL OUR STORY FOR THE MORNING OF JESUS,
THE DISCIPLES AND THE STORM....PERHAPS BECAUSE THE HUMAN EXPERIENCE GOES SO SURELY BETWEEN TIMES
OF CALM AND TIMES OF STORMS.....TIMES WHEN THE STORMS FORM CHOPPY WATERS IN OUR LIVES AND WAVES
THAT CAN THROW US SUDDENLY FROM ONE SITUATION INTO THE NEXT.......
SOMETIMES WHEN IT SEEMS ONE STORM IS STILLING IN OUR LIVES ANOTHER STORM DUSTS UP.....AND THEN
THERE ARE STORMS THAT RAGE IN THE CULTURE, IN THE WORLD AND BEYOND OUR REACH OR CONTROL......SOME
YEARS AGO FRANCIS FRANGIPANE WROTE IN HER BOOK, THE POWER OF COVENANT PRAYER, THIS POWERFUL LINE
AS IF SHE WAS ANTICIPATING THESE VERY DAYS WE’RE LIVING THROUGH....SHE WROTE:
TODAY, THE FORCE PRODDING MANY CHRISTIANS TOWARD GREATER UNITY AND PRAYER HAS NOT BEEN THE
SWEETNESS OF FELLOWSHIP; MORE OFTEN IT HAS BEEN THE ASSAULT OF THE ENEMY.
WE ARE IN
DESPERATE TIMES.
WHEN IT COMES TO TOUCHING GOD’S HEART, OTHER THAN FOR A FEW ESSENTIAL
TRUTHS, UNITY OF DESPERATION IS MORE CRUCIAL THAN UNITY OF DOCTRINE.....
JESUS’ OWN HELP WHEN WE’RE DESPERATE
THE LORD LED THEM INTO THIS STORM ACCORDING TO OUR TEXT THIS MORNING, CHAPTER 8, VERSE 22.
Jesus said, “Let us go over to the other side of the lake.”
Did He know what He was getting them into?
Surely
He did.
He knows all things and so He knew they would encounter this storm.
Although the disciples were veteran
fishermen who knew this lake, they probably didn’t anticipate the storm.
The Sea of Galilee is about 13 miles long
and 7 miles wide.
It sits in a depression that is almost 700 feet below sea level, surrounded by mountains that rise to
about 2,000 feet above sea level on the eastern side.
When winds funnel down those hills, it can create sudden,
violent storms.
It was one of those unexpected storms that hit that evening—unexpected to the disciples, but not to
the Lord Jesus.
It must have been quite a storm, because even these seasoned fishermen feared for their lives.
But
even though it was so terrible, the sovereign Lord, JESUS CHRIST led them directly into it!
SO, IF THE LORD JESUS KNEW IT WAS COMING....AND HE KNEW THE QUESTION HE WOULD ASK THEM NEAR THE
CLOSE OF THE TEXT TODAY, “WHERE IS YOUR FAITH?”
OUR CHALLENGE TODAY IS TO GO AWAY FROM HERE WITH MORE SPIRITUAL TOOLS AND RESOURCES TO DEAL
WITH THE STORMS THAT WILL SURELY COME OUR WAY.....FOR THERE
ARE MANY STORMS THAT ARE MEANT TO HELP FORM OUR FAITH, AND FIT OUR FAITH FOR THE LORD JESUS’ OWN
PURPOSES......
THIS MORNING, WE LOOK AT 4 STORMS, 4 SHIPS & 4 SEA CAPTAINS TO FIND IN THEM MORE TOOLS FOR OUR
FAITH…AMEN?
4 SHIPS IN A STORM
THERE IS A STORY ABOUT 4 SHIPS IN A STORM.....THE STORM BLEW IN, BUT IT WAS EXPECTED.
3 SAILING
SHIPS
WITH CARGO FROM THE EAST WERE SAILING TOWARD VENICE, ITALY.
THE CAPTAINS HAD BEEN WARNED THAT
THEY SHOULD ANTICIPATE TROUBLE ON THIS VOYAGE, FOR A STORM LOOMED ON THE HORIZON.
BUT WHEN THE
STORM ERUPTED, EACH CAPTAIN REACTED DIFFERENTLY.
THE FIRST ATTEMPTED TO SAIL AROUND THE STORM, NOT WANTING IT TO INTERRUPT HIS VOYAGE.
HE WAS IN A
HURRY TO GET ON WITH HIS LIFE.
HE WAS IN DENIAL.
THE CAPTAIN OF THE 2nd SHIP UNAFRAID OF THE STORM DROVE HIS SHIP STRAIGHT INTO THE STORM.
HE WAS
MACHO, FULL OF BRAVADO, STRENGTH....CONFIDENCE, IF YOU LIKE.
HE THOUGHT, “I CAN TAKE IT ON......”
BUT THE CAPTAIN OF THE 3rd SHIP ORDERED THAT HIS ANCHOR BE PUT DOWN, FOR HE TRUSTED THAT THE
ANCHOR WOULD HOLD THE SHIP IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STORM.
THE STORM BROKE WITH TREMENDOUS FURY AND THE 1st SHIP WAS BLOWN HUNDREDS OF MILES OFF COURSE.
THE SHIP OF DENIAL.
THE 2nd SHIP, THE SHIP OF CONFIDENCE, IF YOU WILL, WAS POUNDED AGAINST THE SHORE.
BUT THE 3rd SHIP, THOUGH NEARLY DESTROYED.....HELD FIRM IN ITS PLACE IN THE SEA....
WHAT KIND OF FAITH IS FORMED BY THOSE WHO SEEK TO MAKE JESUS THEIR ANCHOR IN THE MIDDLE OF A STORM
TOSSED SEA? IS THIS THE KIND OF FAITH TO HAVE AND HOLD, TO KNOW AND ASPIRE TO?
FOR THE ONES WHO CHOOSE THE WAY.... TO TRY TO DENY, THEIR STORM IS HARD AND DEMANDING MUCH OF
THEM, THEIR MONEY, THEIR SPIRIT, THEIR COMMITMENT EVEN THEIR CHANGE OF ATTITUDE OR POSITION....CAUSE
STORMS, THEY NEVER LEAVE US THE SAME, DO THEY CHURCH?
WHAT ABOUT THOSE OTHERS WHO CHOOSE THE WAY OF CONFIDENCE, BRAVADO AND PERHAPS EVEN SELF-
SACRIFICE SO THEY CAN SAVE THEMSELVES....WITHOUT A SAVIOR, WITHOUT JESUS, WITHOUT THE ONE WHO WAS
BY THE CREATOR’S SIDE AT THE CREATION, AS ST.
JOHN’S GOSPEL TELLS US IN IT’S OPENING VERSES?
JESUS ASKED THOSE DISCIPLES, “WHERE IS YOUR FAITH?”
WAS IT TOO SOON FOR THEM TO ANSWER?
WAS SUCH A QUESTION FAIR, WHEN DISTRESS WAS SO HIGH AND
DESTRUCTION SO NEAR?
COULDN’T THEY HAVE JUST SUNG A HYMN TOGETHER OR LOCKED ARMS FOR PRAYER?
CONCLUSION: JESUS TAKES US DEEPER THAN WE THINK WE CAN EVEN GO
THE DISCIPLES WERE ON A JOURNEY WITH JESUS....A JOURNEY THAT MADE THIS SHIP VOYAGE JUST ONE PART
IT IS TRUE THEIR LIVES WERE THREATENED.....CERTAINLY THERE IS REAL FEAR, REAL DREAD IN THEIR STATEMENT:
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