If you would please open your Bibles to Mark chapter 4. The fourth chapter of Mark's Gospel. We're beginning in verse 35. I'm reading from the Christian Standard Bible. This is God's Word. On that day when evening had come, He told them Let's cross over to the other side of the sea. So they left the crowd and took him along since he was in the boat, and other boats were with him. A great windstorm arose, and the waves were breaking over the boat so that the boat was already being swamped. He was in the stern, sleeping on the cushion. So they woke him up and said to him, Teacher, don't you care that we're going to die? He got up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, silence, be still. The wind ceased, and there was a great calm. Then he said to them, why are you afraid? You still have no faith? And they were terrified. and asked one another, who then is this? Even the wind and the sea obey him. May God add his blessing to this reading from his holy and inspired word. Jesus is stronger than any force of nature because he's the creator of the universe. Everything that came into existence was created through Him. We read in John 1, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him. And without Him, nothing was made that has been made. So everything that exists is the creation of God. And therefore, we should not be surprised that God has power that is greater than that which he has created. Now, when you see the force of a Category 5 hurricane bringing devastation not only to plants, but bringing devastation to all kinds of sturdy structures that were designed to withstand storms, and yet were pummeled by the force of those winds. Things that were devastated by flooding. You see the immense power that is there in nature. And yet God's power is greater. But something else is in play here besides power. And that is authority. If you were to look at a football team out on the field, who would you say has greater power, greater strength? The players or the coach standing on the sidelines? Well, without a doubt, it is the players who have greater power. They can bench press more. They can run faster. They can jump higher. But who has authority? Coach, the little guy with the pot belly, is able to say, get out! And the guy has to come back off the field and say to somebody else, go in, even when he doesn't feel like it. He can't say to the coach, nah, I'm just not feeling it. He's got to do what the coach says. The coach has authority. Well, let me tell you something. In this passage, what we see in play is Jesus' authority. And that's what astounds the disciples. They're trying to figure out, who is this? They had already started following him at his command because early on they decided, this may be the one we've been waiting for. This looks like the Messiah. John the Baptist said, this is the one. We're seeing some encouraging signs. He's not only teaching us powerful things and speaking with authority, remember that amazed everybody, but he is doing things that nobody could do unless they came from God. So they're impressed and they're following him, but something is about to happen that's gonna really shake them up. And that is, not only will there be a storm, but Jesus is going to be asleep in the middle of it. They're going to ask a question that often comes to the minds of those who seek to follow Jesus. So if you want a title for today's message, it's, Does Jesus Care? Does Jesus Care? Okay, look at the start. Jesus has been teaching the people. He's been healing people. He's been doing wonderful things. And now, verse 35, on that day when evening had come, he told them, let's cross over to the other side of the sea. So they left the crowd and took him along since he was in the boat. He was already in the boat, remember, because from the boat he was able to speak to the crowds without their pressing in on him. and other boats were with him. And a great windstorm arose and the waves were breaking over the boat so that the boat was already being swamped." I don't know how many of you have spent a lot of time on a boat and how many of you have only seen boats in pictures or from the land. I am not a great water person. I like to look at the water, but I prefer to live on land. I have, however, been out in some boats. I've spent a fair amount of time in canoes. When I was in college, well, even in high school, I loved canoeing. When I was in college, I took a course for physical education in canoeing. Yes. In this tragic age in which we live, it's possible to get college credit for things like canoeing. But I took a course in physical education that was considered an essential part of our education back in the 1970s. You had to get physical education credits in order to graduate from college. And so I took a course in canoeing. And I made an A. But one thing was sure. A little bit of water in your boat, in your canoe, not a problem. You kind of expect to get wet. If you think you're going to get in a boat and stay dry, you're just ignorant. You get wet, water comes on board. If you're deep sea fishing, I've been deep sea fishing before, those fish, when they come out of the water, splash. And when you pull them into the boat, they're wet. They don't come into the boat all dried off. So there's water around, and it's rushing back and forth, and you've got to be sure you have on the right kind of shoes so they grip the deck. And believe me, you do want shoes. You don't want to be barefoot, because your feet, unless they were made by Goodyear, just don't grip the way that a good boat shoe will grip. So water goes with the territory. But if your boat's being swamped, that means it's in danger of sinking. The waves were coming over the side of the boat where the disciples were, and it was filling up with water. And they looked at the situation. Remember, a bunch of these guys were commercial fishermen. They were in boats for a living before they met Jesus. And so when this is happening, And the water is coming into the boat at such a high rate that they can't get it out as fast as it's coming in. They see the trend, and they think, we're going to die. We're going to drown. They don't just say, we're going to get wet. They're already wet. They say, we're going to drown. We're going to die. And in that moment, it's like, where's Jesus when we need him? We've seen him work miracles. He at least ought to be on deck. They have an expression in the Navy, all hands on deck. That means nobody gets time off right now. We have times like that here. All hands on deck. Everybody's got to be in the fray. Everybody's got to do what you can to help. Everybody has a job to do. Come on, folks. All hands on deck. Where's Jesus? He's asleep. Well, that hardly seems appropriate. Jesus is resting on a cushion. While they're being bounced around and getting all wet, Jesus is in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. Do you ever feel like that's what's happening in your life? You're about to drown, and God seems to be missing, and when you look for Him, The reassurance you're given is, God's on the throne. Well, that must be nice. OK. But I'm drowning here. Does Jesus even care? Lord. I'd love to have watched the conversation among the disciples about who's going to wake him up. I think we need him right now. We need him. Somebody ought to wake him up. Well, why don't you do it? Oh, I don't want to do it. Okay Come on somebody's got to wake him. Well, we'll do it together. Let's go down there Okay, we'll go down to the stern and we'll tell Jesus. It's got away Jesus Jesus Well, I'm I they had to wake him okay, he wasn't pretending to be asleep he was asleep Jesus What is it? Don't you care? We're about to drown. We're all going to die. Do you not care? I have felt that way at times. I have felt like we're going to drown, and there's no evidence that God cares. Wonderful Christian apologist just died the other day, age 34, wife and child, praying for God to heal him. And instead, he died. I prayed for that guy, I prayed for his healing. Tons of people prayed for him and he died. Lord, don't you care? Martha is going to ask the same question elsewhere in the scriptures. When Mary is sitting at the feet of Jesus and Jesus is talking to her and Martha is doing everything by herself out in the kitchen and feels that this is grossly unfair. And she goes to Jesus and tells him her plight and says, don't you care? If you've never felt that way, either you're not paying attention or you will at some point in the future. Because I'll tell you something, there are times when it seems like God must not care. I know God could answer. I know he has the power. But why is this happening? Why, when we go to have a witnessing event outside of the abortion clinic, is that always going to be the day it rains? I mean, I just don't get it. It doesn't always rain. Sometimes the sun beats down and makes me feel like I'm melting. But it's just like, God, if you like what we're doing, why don't you give us good weather? Really? Don't you ever feel like God can make it easier for you to do the right thing? I mean, do you not feel that way sometimes? I don't know if I'm supposed to show any expression. Because it sounds like he's criticizing God. And I don't think I'm supposed to be enthused about that, but he's the pastor, so what am I to do? I'm just telling you. If you're a follower of Jesus and you try to do the right thing, sometimes you will be frustrated and feel like God must not be on my side today. The disciples asked a question that often comes to those who follow God, and that is, don't you care? Don't you care that we're going to die? They didn't say we're going to get wet. They said we're going to die because that was their fear. Even some fishermen are not good swimmers. And these guys were in a storm that was going to swamp a boat that was designed to make it through the storms. So this just, it's like if the boat can't make it, there's no way I'm going to make it. We're out here in the middle of the lake. It's a big lake. I've been there. Sea of Galilee, called a sea by a lot of people because you know why we call the little river the little river? It's because it's little. You know why they call the Sea of Galilee the Sea of Galilee instead of the lake? Because it's big. It's big. And so they're saying, there is no way we can swim to shore, and especially not in this storm. If the boat goes down, we will too. And so we're going to drown. We're going to die. Here's what's interesting. They ask this question of Jesus. And he came to die in order to save us. The one they're talking to is going to save us from death, not from physical death. We're all going to die physically. But he's going to save us from the second death. He says, don't worry about the one who can destroy your body. Be concerned about the one who, having destroyed the body, can cast the soul into hell. Jesus came and bore the wrath that we deserve so that we could be spared eternal death and They're asking him don't you care about us? Now I've made the same mistake Okay, I have asked God stupid questions. I have had a bad attitude at times toward him But God in his mercy continues to meet the needs of people with bad attitudes. Imagine if Jesus had said, no, frankly, since you ask it that way, feel free to die. I'm not going to do anything for you. I mean, he could have. He could have let them go down, and he could have walked ashore. This is somebody who's going to walk on the water later. This is not a problem for Jesus. He can sleep on the cushion in the middle of the storm because he made all the forces of nature. And so the fact that the boat is in trouble doesn't mean Jesus is in trouble. He can walk on water. They haven't seen that yet, but it's true. All right. So when Jesus is asked this question, he got up. And he said to the wind, stop it. And the wind goes. And he said to the sea, be still. And the waves went. All of a sudden they're sitting there, the wind's not blowing, the waves are not crashing, the storm is over. And they said, oh, that is much better. No, I mean, they're like, we thought the storm was scary. This is bizarre. This is terrifying. And Jesus now starts talking to them. Now, after he has spoken to the storm and it has silenced, When He turns to talk to you, what are you feeling inside? I mean, I'm feeling like, I'll be quiet. You told them be quiet, I'll be quiet too. I don't want to mess with you, Jesus. That was really something. I've never seen anything like that before in my life. I've never even heard of anything like that before in my life. That was terrifying. Jesus asked them a question. Why are you afraid? Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith? What's he talking about? Faith? What does that have to do with it? Am I just supposed to have positive thinking? This storm will not swamp my boat because I am a good person and people like me. That's not what we're talking about. Faith has to do with trusting God's Word. There are various kinds of faith. You can have misplaced faith. You can believe that something is reliable when it's not. We saw a beautiful 1966 red convertible Chevy broken down on the side of the road. You could see as you drove up behind it that the whole drive train had dislocated from the universal joint in the rear axle and fallen onto the road. And so the things over on the side. Somebody probably bought that at the car show in Pigeon Forge. It was for sale. I saw it. It was nice. Very nice car. I complimented it. Looked beautiful. Great paint job. Chrome was immaculate. Okay? Nice interior. Everything's good. Except the drivetrain. Okay? When the drivetrain falls out, you can't drive the car. Because the engine that's up front is supposed to send power to the rear axle to turn the wheels. But it does it via this piece of metal that spins around coming out of the transmission. And if it's not connected in the back, it just doesn't work. And I looked at that. And I thought, somebody made a bad deal. I mean, you crank it up there in Pigeon Forge, you push the accelerator, and it goes vroom. You think, this is great. And then you believe you've bought a great car, and you drive home. And on the way, you make it about, let's see, 15 miles? About 15 miles. And then you can't go any farther, because you're broken down. Somebody had misplaced faith. They put their faith in something that wasn't faithful. Something that wasn't reliable, something that wasn't trustworthy, perhaps a salesperson who wasn't trustworthy. I don't know that they knew it was going to break down. One of my favorite episodes from Andy Griffith is Barney buying a car. And they all get in the car to go with him and start down the road. And it turns out that the people who snookered him, telling him it was grandma's car and she took such good care of it, had lied. And they actually put sawdust in the transmission in order to make it shift more smoothly for a few miles, long enough to sell the car. I knew a guy who used to put cement mix in his cattle feed before taking them to market, knowing that they would soon be dead and he would get more money by increasing the weight. Now that's just sick. But there are all kinds of crooks out there, all kinds of people who do things in order to get others to have misplaced faith. If you want to have a solid, reliable faith, you need to put your faith in God's Word. Well, what does that have to do with this? Jesus had said something at the top of the story. What did Jesus say that should have changed their expectations? Jesus said, let's go to the other side. If Jesus says, let's go to the other side, guess where you're gonna end up? The other side. When Jesus says, we're gonna do this, it's gonna get done. Even if we have to walk, even if we lose the boat, we're not going to drown, we're going to the other side. But they hadn't caught that at all because after... What was the lesson about last time? Be careful how you listen, Jesus said. Be careful how you listen. Be careful how you listen. Over and over, He says, let him who has ears to hear, hear. Listen. Pay attention. Be careful how you listen. And so then Jesus says to them, let's go to the other side. And it doesn't process. I mean, sure, they think, well, okay, we're trying to get to the other side. Trying to get to the other side and going to the other side are not exactly the same thing. If Jesus says we're going to the other side, we're not just trying to get there. We're going. I am so grateful for that because Jesus is the one who says whoever calls on him will be saved. will be saved, not might be saved, not has an improved chance of going to heaven. The reason I'm going to heaven is because of Jesus. And I have his promise on that. And therefore, I don't have to be afraid, even when the storms come. I remember sitting in the den at my house watching on the WBIR weather alert as a tornado was headed directly for the ranch. Now, they didn't say, where's Valley Ranch? They just showed the map, Wine Springs Road, and this thing is headed right toward us. And it's like, and that's us. That's us. That's exactly us. Look, honey, that's our property. Here came a tornado. Were you nervous? Actually not. I thought, I never expected to go this way. Really. I've had that feeling in multiple car wrecks, okay? Riding along as a passenger and somebody does something crazy, and I just think, huh, so this is it. You know why? I'm not concerned about dying, I'm concerned about living. Okay? Life is hard. Heaven's going to be great. It's going to be wonderful. One of these days, probably not for another 35, 40 years, just because I've got incredible genes. I don't mean these. My genetics have programmed me to live a long time. So statistically, I have a high probability of living a long time. The last part of which, I'll have no idea who I am or you are. But, I know that if I die right now, I go to be with Jesus. And it's all gonna be good. No more sickness, no more sorrow. No more sin. I'm not gonna have my faults with me in heaven. I don't have to go through a period of time in purgatory to get cleaned up because I've been washed in the blood of the Lamb. Jesus Christ is my Savior. And that is my hope. So when the tornado was coming right at us, I'm saying, look at that, look, look. It's headed right for us. I prayed for you guys down here, because let me just tell you, those of you who know Jesus, you're gonna be fine. Those of you who don't, you're gonna be in a heap of trouble. And you know what the storm did? I wasn't saying, Lord, stop it, please make a turn. But God said, no, not today. And the storm absolutely did a right-hand turn. I mean, it's coming like this. And it made a sharp right-hand turn and went up into the park and took down gazillion trees. I mean, just all over the place. It was really cool. I drove in afterwards and looked at it. I mean, it was amazing. I mean, the trees were down from the top of the hill, down to Metcalfe Bottoms, and across the road on the other side up the hill. There was a path of destruction. Could have been here. Could have been our buildings. Number of years ago, I'm going to say probably 13, 14 years ago, I got a telephone call early in the morning. Said, Jim, you better get up. Get everybody out of the house. There's a forest fire headed your way. Dear sweet neighbor was crying as she told me this. And I thought, well, she's hysterical. And I said, OK, thank you very much. I hung up and thought, really? Went over and pulled back the curtains, and there was a forest fire coming right toward us. That was a startling thing. And I said, Susan, Susan, get up, get the kids, put the photo albums and the insurance policies in the car. And we did. We didn't pack a bunch of clothes, because you can always buy new clothes. But photo albums and insurance papers, you need. And the family. So we got the car packed, and we called down here and told everybody be ready to evacuate. And then we went out and we stood on our deck and watched as this fire was coming toward us from a little ways down the valley. And I mean, it was coming. And it was very impressive. And I thought, my mortgage is going to be paid off. The wind changed. The wind that had been blowing in our face and bringing the fire toward us totally changed, did a 180. The wind started coming from this direction and blowing the fire back. And it stopped coming toward us and the far side of the area that had been burned and was not doing anything at that point because it didn't have any fuel, now with the wind blowing that way, the flames kicked up on the far side of the burn area, and they started going up the hill. And they went to the top of the hill, where there were, I think, seven or eight houses. They were all rental cabins, and no one was in any of them. Thank God. And they went, poof, poof, poof, poof, all down the ridge. It was really cool. They exploded like matches being struck. And I watched as the fire took him. And I'll tell you something, I wasn't fearful before the wind went the other way. Because folks, when it's our time to go, it's time to go. Nabeel Qureshi, marvelous Christian apologist that I mentioned earlier, who just died over the weekend, Faced death unafraid. He didn't want to die. 34 year old man with a wife and child. He wanted to live. He had a tremendous ministry and he was praying God would heal him. But he wasn't afraid. He wasn't dishonest in saying, you know what, I really don't care. He cared. He asked people to pray. He prayed fervently. But he wasn't afraid. And if you watch the video just days before he died, talking to people and saying, well, it looks as if it's the end. I know that God can even raise the dead. I'm praying that if it please Him, He'll grant us a miracle. But either way, I'm going to be OK. Let me tell you something. That is not the witness that I would have chosen for him to have to give. But I'm so grateful that he gave it. Because that is a powerful witness of a man who faced death unafraid. Now, God became one of us in the person of Jesus Christ. And he went to the cross and bore the punishment that we deserve so that we could have eternal life. But he is still saying to those who would follow him, Why are you afraid? Why are you afraid? Do you still have no faith? And these disciples, they didn't say, oh, sorry, OK, we're not afraid anymore. They were terrified. But the reason is because they were still trying to figure out who He is. You and I should know this. is the very Son of God. And even the wind and the sea obey Him. There's nothing you're gonna face today, or tomorrow, or next week, or next year, that's gonna be too big for Jesus. And if it seems to you like He doesn't care, because He's not doing what you want Him to do, just remember, He has already spoken. and said, peace, be still. I will never leave you or forsake you. Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age. Do not be afraid. Do not be afraid. If you are with Jesus, you're gonna be just fine. Let's pray. Father, thank you that when we don't understand what's going on, and when we're not just getting wet, but we feel like we're gonna die, you are still faithful. And you are more than able to meet every need. I pray, Lord God, that you would help us to truly trust you. to know that you do all things well and that you are working for our good and for your glory. We'll be careful to give you the praise in Jesus' name, for his sake. Amen.