Alright, we're here in Matthew chapter 14. Let me just quickly mention that I've had
a great time since I've been here. It's been great seeing everybody, and my wife does send
her regards, and we appreciate all the prayers I know you guys send, and we also pray for
you guys all the time as well. Hopefully we'll see many of you in February coming up here
in about five months. That would be great. You're in Matthew chapter 14. I want you to
hold your place there, but go to Hebrews 11 real quickly. Hebrews 11. We're going to talk
about the story of Peter walking on the water here tonight, and the name of this sermon
is Stepping Out in Faith. I want to show you a quick verse on faith here in the Bible before
we get started. So you're keeping your place in Matthew 14, but you're turning to Hebrews
11. Hebrews chapter 11 and in verse number 6. The Bible reads in Hebrews 11 verse 6,
But without faith it is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe
that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. So in Hebrews chapter
11 verse 6, the Bible mentions two things you must do in order to please God. It says
without faith it is impossible to please him, then it mentions two things. It says that
you must believe that he is, but it also says that he is a rewarder of them that diligently
seek him. So you must believe that he is is referring to you believing on the Lord Jesus
Christ. You cannot please God unless you have believed on the Lord Jesus Christ. Unless
you put your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, you do not please God. Cornelius was a man
who feared God in Acts chapter 10, but he did not please God. And since he feared God,
God made sure he got the gospel, then he got saved. But you cannot please God if you're
not saved according to the Bible. You must believe that he is, but you also must realize
he's a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. See, just because you are saved does
not mean you please God. There's this attitude in Christianity in general that just because
you're saved, God is happy with you. That that was the whole goal in life, just to get
saved. But getting saved is very easy. It's just believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and
thou shalt be saved. If that was the whole goal, then when I was 18 years old, then I
guess I was done with the purpose of my life. I mean, that's pretty simple just to believe
on the Lord Jesus Christ, but that's not the whole goal of your life. And if you want God
to be pleased with you, which I hope all of you do, yes, you believed on Jesus Christ,
but you must realize that you must diligently seek him in order for him to be pleased with
you. Now turn to Matthew chapter 14, Matthew 14. Now obviously the Bible speaks about being
smart with big decisions. I'm not talking about being foolish here tonight, but when
we're talking about stepping out in faith, which is the name of this sermon, it requires
you in the Christian life to accomplish something, to actually step out on the water from time
to time. You're not going to accomplish something big if you just want to be the comfortable
life and never do anything for God. You have to actually step out of the ship onto the
water. In Matthew chapter 14, the Bible reads in verse 28, and Peter answered him and said,
Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said, Come. And when
Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. The first point
is this, that without faith, you will accomplish nothing in your life if you do not have faith.
Yes, you believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, but if you actually want to accomplish something,
you have to actually get out of the ship. Peter was not the only one in the ship. There
was all the apostles in the ship with him. There was the Sons of Thunder. I mean, that's
a pretty cool name to be called the Sons of Thunder, but James and John are just sitting
in the ship, and Peter's actually out on the water. The only one who accomplished something
was actually Peter. Now he wasn't fully successful, but at least he got out of the ship. It's
funny because in the general Christian sense, they will criticize a church that actually
tries to accomplish something, because from time to time when you try to accomplish something,
you have some failures along the way. But at least you did something. See, most Christianity
is just comfortable doing basically nothing. The only one who accomplished anything in
this story is Peter. Now turn to Acts chapter 6, Acts 6. And see, our whole lives are about
having faith. Yes, you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you get saved. That's pretty
simple, but as pastors preached recently, that's just the beginning. Salvation, the
new birth, is the very beginning. Then you're expected to actually do something with that.
But you will never accomplish something unless you actually live your life by faith. You
must live your life by faith to actually accomplish something. In Acts chapter 6, verse 5, the
Bible reads, And the saying pleased the whole multitude, and they chose Stephen, a man full
of faith, and of the Holy Ghost, and Philip, and Prochorus, and Nicanor, and Timon, and
Parmenas, and Nicholas, a proselyte of Antioch. Notice with Stephen it mentions he's a man
full of faith. It comments not just on his name, but that he is full of faith. That does
not mean that he's just saved. Obviously, all of these men are saved. What it's saying
though is his life was lived by faith. Not just that he believed on Jesus Christ, but
his whole life he was a man full of faith. He was a man who was willing to step out and
actually accomplish something. Notice what it says in verse number 8. It says in Stephen,
full of faith and power did great wonders and miracles among the people. Once again,
it highlights that he's full of faith and power. Now, this does not mean that he stood
on a street corner and screamed at people. You say, wow, that's being bold. No, that's
being foolish. That's being an idiot to yell at people, repent with a sign, and everything
like that. That's not being full of faith. That's being full of stupidity. Now, that
was not Stephen, but he's a man full of faith. When you're a man full of faith, you're going
to actually accomplish something. Look, it's the next chapter where Stephen is actually
killed. He's stoned to death because of the words that he said. Who was there standing
there to see what took place? Paul the apostle. I wonder how big of an impact that had on
Paul the apostle actually becoming Paul the apostle. He wasn't saved at that time. I wonder
if just seeing Stephen, the way he ended his life. He was a man full of faith. He had
full confidence not only that he was on his way to heaven, but that he was right with
God, and he was bold until the very end of his life. And then it mentions Saul just in
passing who becomes Paul the apostle. Turn to Acts 11. You see, when you see people that
are saved that actually step out in faith, doesn't it encourage you to step out in faith
a little bit? When you see other people that actually step out on the water and do something
for God, look, you say, why is it that I go soul winning every week? Well, you're at a
church where people go soul winning every week. So when you don't feel like stepping
out on the water, everybody else is doing it, so you just kind of step out on the water
also. It makes it a lot easier. Now, if you're at a dead church, you know what? Honestly,
it's going to be pretty hard to be dedicated to go soul winning. I have been at churches
that are as dead as can be, and some weeks you're motivated, and some weeks you're not.
It's hard to be motivated if you're the only one stepping out on the water, and it's like
people are trying to drag you back into the ship while you're trying to do it, and they're
criticizing you. Notice what it says in Acts 11, verse 22.
Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem,
and they sent forth Barnabas that he should go as far as Antioch, who when he came and
had seen the grace of God was glad and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they
would cleave unto the Lord. For he was a good man and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith,
and much people was added unto the Lord. When it mentions Barnabas, it says he's a man of
faith. He wasn't just someone who got saved, but he lived his life by faith. He actually
stepped out there and tried to accomplish something. He wasn't happy just being comfortable
and just throwing in the towel and saying, it's done. No, he actually wanted to step
out on the water a little bit, and the result is much people are added to the Lord. That
is the result. When you think of areas where you need to step out in faith, the first time
you go soul winning, aren't you stepping out on the water a little bit? I remember
the first time I'm going, and then I'm scared to go. Maybe you're in this room here tonight,
and maybe you're not a soul winner. Maybe you've never gone. The good news is that honestly,
it's really not that scary when you actually do it. It's actually a lot easier than you
think. But before you actually do it, you just see this water, and you're thinking,
man, I don't see anywhere to step. I'm just kind of stepping out. I don't know what's
going to happen. You're afraid some Mormon is going to give you all these verses that
you don't know how to answer at the door. Well, here's the thing. If somebody wants
to argue and debate you at the door, they're not going to get saved anyway. It doesn't
even matter. And the truth is, very rarely do you run into anybody who knows anything
about the Bible. Most people don't even know Noah's ark or just the basic stories. Look,
it's very unlikely to run into someone who knows a lot about the Bible, and if they want
to argue with you, nobody would ever get him saved. Jesus Christ wouldn't get him saved.
Paul the Apostle wouldn't get him saved. Nobody would, because if they want to argue with
you, they're just not going to get saved. They're going to reject what you have to say.
And so honestly, I know it's scary if you've never been out there. It's really not that
bad, though. And look, your whole life, it is one of living by faith. When I first started
preaching the Gospel in Tagalog in the Philippines, I was stepping out of the water a little bit,
because I was sure I might mispronounce some things and things such as that. But honestly,
if you get comfortable and say, I'm not going to do something new in my life, you're never
going to actually accomplish something. When you preach your first sermon, you are stepping
out on the water. Many men in this room have preached sermons before, whether it's a full-length
sermon or a preaching night. And quite honestly, the first time you preach, you're just like,
you know, turn to Acts chapter 11, and you're scared. Isn't that true, anyone who's preached
in this room before? You know that the first time you preach, you're probably pretty afraid.
I remember that I was afraid. The first time I preached was in a movie theater, and the
first church I went to was not a real fundamental church. And I remember just looking up at
everybody, and I'm down here and just kind of yelling. And everyone was like 20 rows
back, and so I'm like screaming at them. I mean, I was pretty scared, but quite honestly,
I wouldn't have learned how to preach unless I stepped out on the water the first time.
You say, Brother Stuckey, if I start going soul-winning, I don't really know what I'm
doing. Well, here's how you learn. Trial and error. You're not actually ever going
to learn if you never actually get out of the ship. That is how you learn. And the great
thing is that if you go soul-winning, nobody's going to force you to talk. You get paired
up with someone who's a speaker. You can be a silent partner. You're just there for support.
You're there to learn. Every single person in this room, that is how they started, including
myself, including Pastor Menes. Every single person. You start out learning just like anything.
You're not expected to be an expert from day one. But the first time you do that, you're
actually stepping out in faith in your life. Now, turn back to Matthew 14. Now, it works
this way with an individual. It also works this way with the church as well. You say,
how as a church do you step out on the water? Every time you do a church plant, you're stepping
out on the water. You say, why? There is no guarantee that it will be successful. You're
signing a lease for a year, for two years, and you're basically signing on by faith.
It's going to be a success. And this church has started many church plants, and they've
all been a success. But you are taking a leap of faith when you do that. It would be a lot
easier to say, let's just keep everybody here and do what we've been doing. We're reaching
Sacramento. But we're not happy with just doing a little bit. In nine years of a church,
the goal has always been to get churches started. And you must actually step out a little bit
and say, we're going to take a chance and try to do something big for God. It doesn't
come automatically. No, it's impossible to please God without faith. And as a church
as well, yes, we go soul winning, but sometimes you must step out on a bit of shaky ground,
and you do not know what's going to happen. You must have faith. As I said, I'm not talking
about foolishness. I'm not talking about we're just going to start a million church plants
in the next five months. Obviously, you plan these things out. These things are done decently
and in order. But if you never actually try something new, you're never actually going
to accomplish something new. You must actually live your life by faith. In Matthew 14 verses
28 and 29, the Bible reads, and Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me
come unto thee on the water. And he said, come. And see, what I want to highlight as
a second point is this, that God does not want you to be that comfortable in your life.
We want to be comfortable. God does not want us to be that comfortable. Turn to Hebrews
11, Hebrews 11. You see, for many people in this room, you
moved to Verity Baptist Church from another state. Many people have moved. You know, my
family had moved here and many other families here. And when you move to a new state, you
quit your job, you're taking a leap of faith, aren't you? And it's easy to say, hey, I already
took a leap of faith for God. I've got a great church. I've got great friends at church.
I'm learning the word of God. I can raise my family in church and be just very comfortable
saying, you know what, I'm done. I already took my leap of faith. But quite honestly,
God wants you from time to time to actually step out on the water and try something and
do something new in your life. In Hebrews 11 verse 6, it reads, but without faith it
is impossible to please him. For he that cometh to God must believe that he is and that he's
a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. By faith Noah, being warned of God of things
not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house, by the
which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. And
so Noah, he actually by faith builds an ark. He knows that's what God wants him to do.
And quite honestly, he's taking a leap of faith because you're not actually seeing for
sure that it's going to take place and what's going to happen. He's taking a leap of faith
that it's going to work out. Near where my parents live, there was a Pentecostal church
that they took a leap of faith to rebuild Noah's ark on the side of the highway. And
I remember when I was a kid, we would drive by there and they were rebuilding Noah's ark
and they took a leap of faith and you know what, it has not changed in the last 30 years.
It hasn't been built at all. Basically they took a leap of faith and said we're going
to get it started and we believe we'll get all these donations that come in and we're
going to build this thing. And I just remember because I would drive a long ways to go to
church in West Virginia, I was like, you know this ark looks the exact same as when I was
a kid. And I read online before I preached a sermon in the Philippines and this Pentecostal
preacher had a dream in the 70s. And he just had a dream that God wanted him to build an
ark. He was going to build an ark and then people from all over the world would visit
this ark. And it's like it doesn't even rain that much there. It's like why would you be
building an ark? I mean they take a leap of faith and they obviously failed. Noah,
he is taking a leap of faith because he knows this is what God actually wants him to do.
And so look at what it says here in verse number 8. The Bible reads, By faith Abraham
when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance
obeyed and he went out not knowing whether he went. And so Abraham is told he's supposed
to leave and he by faith actually does it. If you read the story closely and I don't
have time to show you, Abraham does not obey at first though. At first he's very comfortable
with just staying there and eventually he decides to obey. But eventually he goes out
by faith and actually does what he's told to do. When you think of the history of our
country and people coming over for the Oregon Trail or the California Gold Rush, people
were taking a leap of faith that things were going to work out. They kind of went out into
a foreign state and they said, man, I don't even know what's going to take place. I don't
know where I'm going to live. And by and large, those are unsaved people that did that.
And see, if unsaved people will live their lives by faith, shouldn't we live our lives
by faith as God's people, knowing God is going to provide? And so Abraham goes out by faith.
Notice verse number 9. By faith he sojourned in the land of promise as in a strange country,
dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. For
he looked for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God. Through faith
also Sarah herself received strength and conceived seed, and was delivered of a child when she
was past age, because she judged him faithful who had promised. And so you're seeing that
Abraham and Sarah, they lived their lives by faith. Big things are being accomplished
because of it. And so you notice here in this story, if you remember, it took them a while
to have a child. Abraham and Sarah, they prayed about it, they waited for that child, they
lost faith from time to time, and they were waiting for that child. Now Abraham has already
lived his life by faith over and over and over again. But turn to Genesis 22. Genesis
22. You know, to a small degree, this story really impacts me because it took my wife
and I a little while to be able to have a child. It took us a few years, and it was
tough, and it was frustrating. And so obviously we didn't wait as long as Abraham and Sarah,
but I know what it's like to wait a long time. And quite honestly, you wait for a while,
you pray, you pray, you have doubts from time to time, and God finally blesses you. The
last thing I would ever want to do is what Abraham has to do in Genesis chapter 22. And
it says in Genesis 22 verse 1, And it came to pass after these things that God did tempt
Abraham and said unto him, Abraham, and he said, Behold, here I am. And he said, Take
now thy son, thy only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah,
and offer him there for a burnt offering upon one of the mountains which I will tell
thee of. Now, look, if I was in their situation, from a logical standpoint, I feel like I would
say, Men, no. I'm not going to do it. I'll be like, you know, I've waited, we've waited
to have Zeph for a few years. Not even as long as they did. Like, I'm not going to offer
my son. I don't have that sort of faith that I'm willing to offer my son. But the reality
is that God wants us to live our lives by stepping out on the water and not to be comfortable
in our lives. Verse number 3, And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled
his ass, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and claved the wood
for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went on to the place of which God had told him.
And so Abraham actually listens to the commandment, and he has full faith that things are going
to work out. Look, it's very easy to think that we're going to actually do this in this
situation and just obey God, but don't we see God tell us to do things all the time,
things as clear as day, and we don't obey them? Look, many people know exactly what
the Bible says, but it doesn't mean that they actually do it. We see things that are clear
as day in the Bible, and yet we don't actually obey what the Bible says. If we'd actually
just have faith in what the Bible says, we'd actually accomplish something. Now turn back
to Matthew 14. You know, sometimes you see in churches that people come from different backgrounds
and things, and the Bible is very clear that in order to discipline your children, you're
supposed to spank your children. It's very clear in the Bible, and yet oftentimes people
hear that preaching over and over and over again, and you know, I don't know what it
is. I don't know if it's just a lack of faith that that's true, because if you don't actually
obey that, your kids are going to grow up and be rebellious, and that is what takes
place in this world. You see that take place. You could even look at people that actually
had a good home and were spanked a lot and disciplined and trained and taught as a child,
and those people tend to turn up right, even if they weren't safe growing up. Look, I didn't
grow up in an independent fundamental Baptist church, but you know, I remember when I was
a child, and the one time I acted up in church, my dad took me outside, and man, I got spanked,
because my dad knew what the Bible said, and he knew what he needed to do to raise us,
and when you have that sort of environment, you end up right, because if you understand
that your Father on earth is going to punish you when you act up, it makes you understand
there's a Heavenly Father that's going to punish you. It also makes it a lot easier
to believe in hell and realize you've got to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. Realizing
if your earthly father that loves you and yet will punish you, it makes you realize,
hey, there's a Heavenly Father that, you know what, he might punish me one day. It makes
it a lot easier to understand the Gospel. So many kids grow up with no repercussions
for what they do, and guess what? They're probably never going to get saved, because
they've always been taught their whole life that nothing happens when they act up, and
so if people would actually live their lives by faith and see what the Bible says, they
would actually do that, and their kids would turn out right, and there's many things in
the Bible we can see that are clear as day, and yet people just choose not to apply them
to their lives. Look at Matthew 14, verse 30, and it says in verse 30, but when he saw
the wind boisterous, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me,
and so the third point we have is this, that if you're going to step out in faith, you
must not focus on the obstacles. Don't focus on the obstacles. Notice how it says, when
he saw the wind boisterous. You see, what's taking place is that Peter, you know, Peter,
God bless him, he would just do things without thinking, and you know what, sometimes it
was good, and sometimes it was bad, but he basically just says by faith, hey, I'm going
to go out in the water. Do you want me to come? And the Lord says come, and he just
goes, and then all of a sudden it's like, wait a minute, the wind is very strong. There's
this storm. I don't know what's going to happen, and it's like, well, if there wasn't
a storm, you're still walking on water. I mean, you're still doing something that's
not humanly possible, but he sees the wind boisterous, and he's afraid, and he begins
to sink, and so what does the Lord do? Once he begins to sink, you know, does the Lord
put his foot on top of his head and just shove him under? No. Obviously, when you do something
for God, even if you fail, you know what God's going to do? He's going to pick you up and
help you again. See, that's a great thing when you step out by faith for God, that even
if you screw up, you know what, God actually helps you through that. He wants you to step
out in faith. He doesn't just lay down the hammer if you make a mistake, because last
we saw, Peter's the one who actually did something in that storm. The other ones did nothing,
and if you don't get out of the ship at all, you're going to accomplish nothing. Now turn
to 2 Corinthians 5, 2 Corinthians 5. This is often what holds people back from actually
doing something big, because honestly, they look at something that's intimidating, and
they look at the obstacles, and they say, man, Goliath is so big. I don't know if I
can do this. I don't know if I have the finances. I don't know if I'm able to do this. And they
look at how big the obstacle is. They look at everything that could go wrong, and then
instead they don't even look at what could go right in their life. Look at what it says
in 2 Corinthians 5, verse 7. For we walk by faith, not by sight. See, the Bible says we
walk by faith, not by sight. You cannot just look at what could go wrong, because that
is going to make you afraid to actually do something. Look, when it comes to people that
have moved to be a part of this church, there are obviously things that could go wrong when
you do that. You decide to quit your job and sell your house and move to another state.
You can't guarantee that you're going to get the nicest job in here. You don't know what's
going to take place. You don't know where you're going to live. You don't know what's
going to happen. But if you look at what could go wrong, you're never actually going
to do what could go right. Look, when it comes to moving to another country, you know, yeah,
moving to the Philippines, there's a lot of things that could go wrong. There's a lot
of things that are different. There's obstacles along the way. But if I look at what could
go wrong, I never would have moved to the Philippines. If I was just happy being comfortable
and saying, this is fine in my life, I've got a great church, I decided I don't want
to be a pastor anymore, I don't want to run a church, I'm just happy sitting here, then
you're never actually going to accomplish something. Now, I'm not saying that you need
to become a pastor or an evangelist. That's not necessarily what everyone needs to do.
If you don't have that desire, that's fine. You could be a great church member. But what
I am saying is that in our lives, many times we know there are things that we should do,
but we see a big obstacle in the way, and we just look at it and say, man, I can't accomplish
this. But see, you're looking by sight instead of walking by faith. Now, turn to 2 Corinthians
4. And in 2 Corinthians 4, the Bible reads, verse 17, for our light affliction, which
is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
The example I've given here is when it comes to soul winning. When you're going soul winning
for the first time, you are stepping out by faith. And when people go soul winning, there's
many things that they might be afraid of, things that could go wrong. And one thing
people have a fear of is, you know, what if we get made fun of? You know, what if someone
gets mad at us? And it's like, you know what, that is a very light affliction, as it says
in 2 Corinthians 4, verse 17. Because you get made fun of, you're not going to go soul
winning. I mean, do you know anything about history, the history of Christians? I mean,
look throughout the history of the Catholic Church. I mean, they killed more than 50 million
people. More than 50 million people were murdered by the Catholic Church. Look, nobody's getting
murdered in the United States and Sacramento today by going soul winning. They used to
torture you. They crucified you. Look, nothing happens in today's world. You can look throughout
history. Look at the Protestants. It wasn't just the Catholics. The Protestants killed
the Anabaptists. Everybody persecuted the true believers. And throughout history, it's
usually been like that. You could look at the present day in other countries. You could
look at the Muslim countries or the Hindu countries or the Buddhist countries. You can
look at, you know, the Jews that have persecuted God's people. Look, they all killed the true
believers. But in America, you get made fun of? And that's going to make you just say,
well, you know, I can't step out by faith. I'm worried I might get made fun of. I mean,
that's a very light affliction. That's nothing in your life. You say, oh, I might lose my
job if I'm connected to this church. That is a light affliction. It's a very light affliction.
You say, why? Because you can get another job and still make money. Maybe it won't be
as nice of a job. Maybe you won't make as much money. But you can still provide your
needs. Look, you know, when it comes to this church,
when this church, you know, three years ago, you know, the sermon was preached, you know,
you know the history, and we were protesting things like that, there were some people that
left because they were afraid of their jobs. It's like, that's a very light affliction.
You're worried you might lose your job and you're going to quit a church? What about
walking by faith and not by sight and not worrying about what could go wrong? What about
what could go right in a church like this? Now turn back to Matthew 14. And you know,
I think we all know areas where we've stepped out in faith before, and whenever you do something
new, it's kind of nerve-wracking. I remember the first time I did song leading at this
church, and you know what, I was scared. And sometimes people tell me that, you know, hey,
Brother Stuckey, you don't seem nervous when you preach, you know, that's surprising. Well,
I'll tell you, I was very nervous when I was doing song leading. Pretty much for the first
six months, every time I came up here, I'm just thinking, oh, man, I'm scared, I'm paranoid
about missing the notes, and I missed the notes a lot. Is that not true? It was scary,
it was difficult, but quite honestly, you don't learn how to do something unless you
actually try it. Trial and error is how you actually accomplish something. And so honestly,
I didn't necessarily want to do it, but I said, you know what, I need to learn how to do it. I
need to step out by faith and figure it out eventually, because on everything you start
at the very beginning. Look, in our church recently, Verity Baptist Church just started
Verity Baptist Church Fresno. And you think of the Pozarnsky family, and they were a family
that, quite honestly, their life was pretty good in North Dakota. They had a good job,
good career, and they decided, you know what, I want to step out by faith because there's a
great church here in Sacramento. They came to the Red Hot Preaching Conference probably three
years ago, maybe, at this point, two or three years ago, and then they decided, you know what,
we're not happy with being in the dead church. Many of us were the same way. You're in church
on Sundays, and you're trying to live for God, and then you hear this 30-minute sermon where
you learn nothing, and you're bored, and nobody goes soul winning. Eventually, it weighs you down.
And they decided to move here, and quite honestly, a great church, a great church for their kids to
grow and learn and everything. But when you feel that nudge from God that he wants you to get out
of the water, you know what you need to do? You need to actually step out on the water and do
what God wants you to do. Because honestly, it's tough to leave a good job. I mean, it's easy if
you don't have a good job, but if you're doing pretty well in life, it's difficult to step out
on the water. But quite honestly, in our lives, that's what we need to do. In our church, we
stepped out by faith because, honestly, starting a new church, things can go wrong with that.
There's no guarantee of success, but without faith, it is impossible to please him. Turn to Matthew 14.
Matthew 14. And the last point I want to look at here today is, don't allow failure to make you
quit. Notice what it says in Matthew 14, verses 30 and 31. Matthew 14, verse 30, it says,
But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried,
saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand. Notice how it says
immediately. Every word is in the Bible for a reason. He doesn't make him panic there for a
while. Immediately, Jesus comes and just helps him out. Immediately, Jesus stretched forth his
hand and caught him and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt? And so
you look at Peter, and quite honestly, he almost dies in this story. He stepped out on the water,
and he's drowning, he's sinking. Something like this could make you just throw in the towel.
We'll turn to Acts 2. Now, obviously, when you look at the life of Peter, he has his ups and
he has his downs as well. He does kind of throw in the towel temporarily later on in his life. He
gets back into it, but as did all of them. But, you know, Peter, you know, he was a man who lived
his life by faith. Here in Matthew, chapter 14, he begins to sink, but he doesn't throw in the towel.
Notice what it says in Acts 2, verse 14. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up
his voice and said unto them, Ye men of Judea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known
unto you and harken to my words. So notice how Peter is the one who's bold. He's the one who's
basically leading the speech here. Turn to Acts chapter 4. And in Acts chapter 4, notice what it
says in verse 18. And they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach
in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the
sight of God to harken unto you more than unto God judge ye, for we cannot but speak the things
which we have seen and heard. And so Peter and John say, hey, you can make whatever laws you want,
but we cannot just help but speak what we've heard. They said we know the Word of God, we cannot
just hold it in. Isn't that the truth in our lives? We have family that makes fun of us. We
have friends that make fun of us. Our co-workers don't understand, you know, why are you here on a
Wednesday night? You go to church on Sunday, you're here on a Wednesday night. You know, you could
watch the basketball game, the football game, or whatever. You're here three times a week. You're
here for events. It's like, why don't you calm it down? But you know, when you're trying to live
for God, and you hear the Word of God preached, you just can't help but speak the things you have
seen and heard. You just can't help but just go out soul winning. You hear sermons where a sermon
on hell, you just can't help but say, man, people are dying going to hell. I need to actually do
something in my life. And that's why you need a church that actually preaches hard. Because when
you go to a church like this, when you choose to get lazy in your life, which we all do from time
to time, you just kind of get that push from the sermons that says, hey, you know what, you need
to step out on that water again. You need to go out there and actually do something. Turn to Acts
5. Acts 5. And so in Acts chapter 4, they're commanded not to teach in the name of Jesus.
But notice what it says in Acts 5, verse 17. Then the high priest rose up in all they that were with
him, which is the sect of the Sadducees, and were filled with indignation, and laid their hands on
the apostles, and put them in the common prison. But the angel of the Lord by night opened the
prison doors, and brought them forth, and said, go stand and speak in the temple to the people,
all the words of this life. And so notice what it says in verse number 29. They're basically
arrested for preaching the word of God. And quite honestly, being arrested is something that you
really don't have to worry about in today's world. They actually had persecution. They might get
killed. Notice what it says in verse number 29. It says, then Peter and the other apostles answered
and said, we ought to obey God rather than men. And so no matter what the obstacles were in the
life of Peter, he just said, you know what? I'm actually going to step out on the water. I failed
before. I'm actually going to step out there. So in our lives, what are some areas where we need
to actually step out on the water? One thing I've mentioned is soul winning. And quite honestly,
that's nothing new around here. Soul winning is mentioned in sermons all the time around here,
because quite honestly, God wants every single person to be a soul winner. The Bible says,
follow me and I will make you fishers of men. What that's stating is that if you are following God,
you will be a fisher of men. Follow me and I will. Not I might make you a fisher of men. People say,
well, you know, I'm following God. Look, if you're not going soul winning, you're not following God
according to the Bible. That is what the Bible teaches. Follow me and I will make you fishers
of men. You can think of maybe something like homeschooling. Homeschooling might be new to a
lot of people, and they might be kind of afraid to do it. I know in the Philippines, homeschooling
is really not that common. And quite honestly, a lot of people are kind of afraid because they
just don't really know how to do it. They're not sure how it works. You know, I remember when my
parents started homeschooling, my sister, you know, she's two years older than me, they kind
of went out by faith because nobody really homeschooled back then. Nowadays, we have the
internet, we have all these resources, but they just decided, you know, the school system is just
so weird and they're not educating our children, and so they kind of stepped out by faith. And for
some of you, that might be the step you need to take in your life. You've seen, you've heard the
sermons preached about it. You know we have homeschooling groups and things such as that.
You know, you just need to step out by faith and believe you can actually accomplish that. You can
think of maybe preaching your first sermon. You know, there's men in this room that maybe, you
know, you've never preached a sermon before. You come to the men's preaching nights, and maybe you
would be interested in doing it sometime, but you're kind of afraid. Look, every single person
the first time they preach a sermon is afraid. Every single person. You listen to Pastor Men is
up here and you think, man, how does he know so much about the Bible? Well, I mean, he's been
saved for like 30 years. I mean, he's been preaching for nine years. And so when you do
that over and over and over again, you get better at it. And so if you want to get good at it one
day, you have to actually step out on the water the first time and take that step. You could think
of starting a church. Starting a church, you're stepping out on the water. You know, quite honestly,
things are going great in the Philippines, but quite honestly, it was a huge leap of faith,
and things are not always easy. Things are difficult sometimes. Even before the service,
you know, I was helping out a church member with something, you know, just 20 minutes before this
church service started, because there's always things going on, even at a small church. That's
just the way it is. And so quite honestly, starting a new church, you're taking a leap of faith in your
life. The thing you need to realize is that God does not want you to be that comfortable in your
life. We as people, we would like to be comfortable in our lives. Obviously, you know, we'd like to
just have a nice job, you have a nice church, you keep it calm in your life, but quite honestly,
God wants his people to live their lives by faith and not by sight. Let's close in a word of prayer.
Dear Heavenly Father, thank you for allowing us to be in your house here this evening, and I ask
you to help us all in our lives to apply this to our lives. Help us to all think of areas in our
lives where we need to step out by faith, whatever that might be. It might be different for different
people, God. Help us not to ever be comfortable in our lives and comfortable with where we're at,
but always trying to reach new goals, God. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.