Readings for the Day:
Sermon:
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Original Manuscript:
In my experience, it doesn't seem to matter what your viewpoint in the church is, whether you are an expansionist or a traditionalist, it seems almost everyone is freaking out over the state of the church. I've heard traditionalists bemoan our culture in this country becoming more secular and expansionists say that if we don't change as a church, we will die. That our culture values the church less and less seems to be at the forefront of thought for everyone and an incredibly concerning issue.
The end of our Gospel reading today provides an answer to those concerns. The disciples are out on a boat and Jesus is taking a nap. All of a sudden a storm comes in, and it looks like they are about to sink. The disciples are freaking out. Jesus, however, is not. He's still asleep. So the disciples decide to wake Him up.
Jesus commands the storm to cease, and it does. Then Jesus turns to the disciples and asks "Where is your faith?"
Unlike the disciples, Jesus wasn't worried. He was literally taking a nap! I believe Jesus knew everything would be alright. The disciples just needed to have faith that as long as Jesus was with them, everything would be okay.
As long as Jesus is with us, everything will be okay too. It may seem like we live in turbulent times and it might seem that if we don't do something, everything will fall apart. But as long as we continue to remain with Jesus and be His church, we will survive whatever may come our way, as difficult as doing so may be. As long as we have Jesus, we will weather the storm.