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Date 26th November 2006
The speaker was Julia Matthews She told us the story of Jesus calming the storm. Mark 6: 36-41, Luke 8:22-25 This was a real storm - huge waves, wind and rain, and even hardened fisherman, used to such storm were afraid. The disciples also seemed to be annoyed that Jesus was simply asleep! He was not in a panic like they were, nor was he worrying, or being ill!! He was asleep! How on earth could He be sleeping at a time like this? So they woke Him up, saying, "Don't you care?" Jesus simply spoke to the storm, and it went quiet, and they carried on with their journey. What can we learn from this? Jesus brings protection in this world as we live our daily lives. One day we will go to heaven to be with Jesus, but meanwhile we live in a real world. Bad things do happen to us now. Unkind things as well. This is part of life. But the Bible says, in Philippians 4:6, "Don't worry about anything, but in everything with prayer and praise put your requests before God. And the peace of God, which is deeper than all knowledge, will keep your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." What this is basically saying, is not to worry about anything, but talk to God about everything. Picture it like this. Here is a ball of twisted cotton and wool. It is hard and not very attractive. It represents how we can feel all knotted up over things. And here is a soft ball of wool. This is like the peace that God can give to us if we ask Him. We need to remember that Jesus is always here with us. It may look like He is asleep, but if we ask Him He can and will speak peace into our lives. But we can also help one another. Galatians 6:22, "Take on yourselves one another's troubles, and so keep the law of Christ." We were shown a very heavy bag of books. It was hard for one person to carry, but as soon as there were two people, the job became much easier. We need to ask each other for help, and be prepared to help one another. Ask people to pray with you, and for you. Philippians 4:4-7. "Rejoice in the Lord always: again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your forbearance be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus." We were shown a stone. If we concentrate on the stone, it will take up all our energy and thoughts. If we choose to look away from the stone and look towards Jesus, our stone will shrink to its correct proportion! We need to thank God for the good things, they will get larger, and our problems will seem to get smaller as we see just how great God is. Sometimes bad things do happen to us. Let's praise God all the time, and ask Him for peace in our lives.
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