Amen. Mark chapter number four. Amen. Mark chapter number four. I got plenty of them. I got one in my case. Amen. Mark chapter number four. Amen. It's so good, as I said, to just be here this morning. I know I'm always thankful for the opportunity to come to church. And I got to thinking about this week and what the Lord would have me do here today. And I couldn't get this scripture off my mind, amen? And I got to thinking about life and how life treats us at times. I'll get into that in just a moment. But in Mark chapter number 4, look at verse number 35 with me. And I thank you for already standing. And the Bible says, in the same day when the evening was come, he said unto them, let us pass over unto the other side. And when they had sent away the multitude, they took him even as he was in the ship. And there was also with him another little ship. And there arose a great storm of the wind, and the waves beat into the ship, and it was now full. And he was in the hindered part of the ship, asleep on a pillow. And they awake him and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose and rebuked the wind and said unto the sea, Peace be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm. And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? How is it that ye have no faith? And they feared extremely and said unto one another, what manner of man is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him? Grace says, Father, we're thankful for the opportunity to be here this morning, dear Lord. And Father, we're thankful for the singing we heard today, dear Lord. We're thankful for each family that's represented here today, dear Lord, Father. Father, I ask, dear Lord, now that just for this space of time that you'll hide me behind your cross, Father, that they won't see a man, but they'll see you, dear Lord. Father, I ask, dear Lord, that you open each heart that's here today to the message that you've laid upon my heart. Father, we ask, dear Lord, that You just touch each family that's represented here today, Lord, and just guide them through this voyage of life, Father. We just, dear Lord, will give you all the praise, the honor, and the glory, Father. If there's one here that's not saved today, Father, we ask, dear Lord, that you'll send the Holy Ghost to where they're at, dear Lord, that they too will receive the invitation to Go over to the other side, Father. Father, we ask Thee, Lord, maybe there's one that's backslidden, that's went astray, Father. We ask Thee, Lord, that You'll send the Holy Ghost to where they're sitting at, Father. Oh, dear Lord, we just ask Thee, Lord, You just put them under the conviction to come back, Father God, Lord. Father, maybe there's someone out here this morning, dear Lord, that's living in this fearful time of this sea, of this rocking, then, dear Lord, and their boat's almost full. Father, I ask, dear Lord, that you'll just today, Lord, just open their heart to what you've given me, Father, and we'll be careful to give you all the praise, the honor, and the glory. In Jesus' name we do pray, amen and amen. It will occur to most of us that this passage is compared to the world of a voyage, of a traveling voyage, of going through life. And I want to use these verses to illustrate today the voyage of life. Anybody know what a voyage is? It's when you set out on the seas to go somewhere else. If you're saved today, you have started your voyage. If you're lost today, you have started a voyage. The difference between these two voyages are that they're going to different destinations. If you look here in the first verse that I read, the Bible says, and the same day when the evening was come, he sent unto the Amen to the other side. I'm glad I have been invited to go to the other side with Jesus. was built. Amen. When I got in this morning, this was not a part of my message, but the Lord gave it to me. When I walked in, I turned the light on and I looked over here and I saw a manger and I looked at the manger and just right to the right of it, I saw the cross. I said he went from there to there to the borrowed tomb so I could be invited to go to the other side. You see, Brother Jeff, there's nothing I've ever done in my life that was made righteousness by me. Amen. I could not invite myself to the other side, Sister Amy. I don't care how good of a guy that I was, which I wasn't a good guy before I was saved. I tell you, there's nothing that I could have done to get over there. But one day I heard a message, Brother Eddie, and Jesus invited me to get on board this ship and go to the other side. I don't care how rough the winds may get, Sister Cole. I don't care how bad the ship may beat and be battered. I know that I'm going to the other side. Nobody can stop me from getting to the other side. You see, I have a captain that's aboard the ship. He's the one that invited me over to the other side. He's navigating my life. He's my guidance. He's the one that watches over me, amen? And I'm glad that I have accepted my invitation. Today I don't know about you, but the invitation is still being given. He's inviting you on board to go to the other side I don't know if you're in the eve of your life or not I don't know if tomorrow you'll close your eyes and dead But I promise you this much if you get on board with Jesus And if you allow him to save you if you repent of your sins, amen You too will receive the invitation to come on to the other side I was thinking about this year, each one of us has lost somebody in our family, some of us multiple ones. And I don't know about you, but I often sit and think, the family members that I've lost, did they accept the invitation to go to the other side? Or did they turn a deaf ear? I had no idea any of the songs that was going to be sung here today other than the one that I picked out to sing. I did not know Brother Eddie was going to follow suit and sing about a man dying and going to hell and being satisfied with Jesus. I did not know Sister Jenny Taylor was going to get up here and read about the great day of judgment when Jesus will look upon them that beg Him to say that I prophesied in your name, that I done good deeds in your name. And He'll look at them when He looks through the book and their name's not found. And He'll say, depart from me, amen. I tell you what, today you can avoid that if you accept the invitation to go to the other side with Jesus. You know, His voice started in a manger. He died, he rose again, and his voyage is still continuing. I said it earlier, his voyage will never end. He'll stand upon the latter part of the day. Nothing can stop Him. Once you receive this invitation, once He's washed you in His blood, nothing can throw you overboard. You cannot be cast aside anymore. You are His and He is yours. There's nothing, and I mean nothing, that can separate us from the love of Christ. What an invitation, Brother Eddie. What an invitation. But you see here, the seas of life-storms are sure to arise. So many people, when we first trusted the Lord in our walk, and we first loved the Lord, we rejoiced in the forgiveness of our sins. I've been saved for a little while now, not a long time, like Sister Cook, who's been saved for over 50 years. I've not been saved that long. And I know that, if the Lord's willing, one day I will be saved that long, because I'll never lose that. But I've never got over that He forgave me of my sins. I'm talking about you remember when you was first saved, the peace of God that you felt upon you. You'll remember those things. And we remember setting out. We remember setting the sail. We remember going on our voyage. And our journey to heaven had begun. Brother, we were so excited, Brother Ed. I remember in my head there was nothing going to hinder me from getting to the other side, that I was going to be all right. Then all of a sudden, troubles arise. The storms of life start beating me down. I start getting discouraged. I start getting beaten up. Do you know why? Your adversary wants you to think that you're never going to get there. He wants you to think that it's not going to happen. But I want you to remember what Jesus said in Mark chapter number 4. To the other side now. He said we're going to go and we're going to get there I don't care how hindered you may be at times Nothing can stop you from getting to the other side Christ is always in the storm with you. He brings us out. He gets us through it He is our he will get us to our desired heaven if you remember what the psalmist wrote in Psalms 107 He said, then they are glad because they be quiet. Amen. So he bringeth them unto their desired heaven. They don't know about you, but I desire to go home. I desire to be in the presence of my King. I desire to see the glories and the glanders of heaven. And one day that will be my reality. Some of us in life right now are getting beat up and the storm feels like all the malice of the enemy is trying to take us down and they're trying to harm us and they're trying to push us out and they're trying to say don't do that. I tell you what I'm telling you today, some of you woke up and I guarantee this was the thought that went through your head. Do I really got to go to church this morning? It's Christmas Day, I can just spend time with my family. Do you know who that was? That was the enemy, trying to distract you from what's really important. I love Christmas just as much as the next person does. I love the gifts, I love the glamor, I love the lights. Me and Cole, we go overboard for Christmas. It's just the two of us, brother Eddie. We could have easily said at home and said, I'll call somebody else to go preach for me this morning. I don't feel like it. Cole's throat's kind of sore. We could pass it off as a sickness we could bring to other people. Now, that didn't cross our mind this morning, but it could have. And that's the enemy that grabs in and says, you what in those times of trouble when you're going through some of us in this very room today is going through a storm with a family member being sick we're worried about our lost loved ones some of us have lost our spouses this year and we're going through these storms and we're just trying to get there brother Kent and we're just trying to make it through this voyage and it feels like Satan's winning and Satan's gonna overthrow us. But the inspired psalmist said in Psalms 91, he shall call upon me and I will answer him. I will be with him in trouble. I will deliver him and honor him. When you're in trouble, when those storms arise in life, when you feel like you You gotta get there on your own. You got a deliverer. You got someone to help you out. You got someone who's gonna tote you to the other side if you got to. Oh, but we forget about that, Brother Eddie. And we feel like he's just asleep. We feel like he's asleep. Can I ask you a question, church? Why do we cry in terror, Lord save us, we perish? when we've already been invited to go to the other side. Now. I realize in the age that we're living in that a lot of people will tell you this right here when you're going through trouble that Jesus no longer heals. That the Jesus of the Bible is not the same Jesus that we worship. He can no longer raise the dead. He can no longer touch the people with leprosy. He can no longer calm the storms in your life. He can no longer you know, walk up and holler, say, peace, be still and the winds will cease. I'm talking about, and they don't want us to believe that anymore. They don't want us to believe that we had the great physician on board with us. They don't want us to believe that he can go and touch Doris's daughter and immediately she gets up and walks around cause she was just sleeping. They don't want us to believe that that woman who crawled on her hands and knees through the crowd and touched the hem of his garment that then he was healed immediately, the Bible says. They don't want us to believe that Jesus can still do that. They don't want us to believe that the same Jesus that walked to the tomb of Lazarus, walked up to it, says, Lazarus, come forth. Lazarus got up, took his grave clothes off and walked out. They don't want you to believe that anymore. They don't want you to believe. We came into a society that says, well, he did do that. They use the word past tense. He did do that. Well, church, can I tell you now in your storms of life, he can still do it. He's still the same Jesus that's in that Bible when he walked on the face of the earth, when he healed the lame, when the man with leprosy walked up to them and everybody else was terrified, backing away from him, saying, don't let him touch you. Don't let him touch you. He walked right up. He said, hey, be healed. Amen. The Bible says as soon as he touched them, guess what happened, Sister Cook? They were healed. That's right, man. All of them went back. There was one Gentile there, brother. Yeah, that Gentile was me. I didn't have no right to go release no doves and burn no doves and go into the temple and praise them. I had somebody I'd come back to and thank him for what he'd done for me. But they don't want you to believe that anymore when you're in your storm anymore. They want you to cry out, Lord, we perish. And that's where they want you to stop. You see, we're so fearful that in the day age we're living in that everything's always going wrong. We're so scared that every time we get in a storm that we're gonna perish, our boat's gonna be full. Every single one of us in this room this morning has been through something in life to where your boat has been full. To where you feel like you are sinking. And I believe when the Bible says it was full, that it was about to go down. That it was about to sink. That it was slammed full of water. And the water that you were taking on just makes you feel like this overweighted and overbearing. You feel like you just can't make it anymore. You just say, Lord, we're just going to perish. I'm just done. I quit. I can't do it no more. I'm done. He's up there sleeping. I'm down here struggling. Where's Jesus at? You remember what Martha ran and asked Jesus? She said, if you would have been here, he'd still be alive. She was full. You remember when George came, he came running to Jesus. Bob said he fell down on his feet. He said, Master, help me. He wasn't scared anymore, brother Eddie. He knew he needed help. You need help. You can't do it on your own. When your boat's full, you can't get the water out on your own. I came in this morning, emptied that bucket back there that was full of water from where the sink's dripping over. I said, man, I said, Lord, I don't know why you keep showing me these things, but I'm thankful you are. I picked that bucket up. I took that water, brother Eddie, and I went, and it went away. Do you know why? Jesus Christ is saying yesterday, today, and forever. If he healed the blind here, if he made the deaf talk, I mean deaf here, the lame to talk, the blind to see, the leprosy clean, guess what? He can do it for you. We think we're about to be done. We think, man, we're in just so much trouble. We're over our heads. We feel like we got to depend on ourselves. I'm telling you, church, you can't do nothing by yourself. You can't get there by yourself. You can't get there by just worshiping a manger scene. You can't get there by just worshiping a cross. You can't get there by just worshiping an empty tomb. It's gotta be Jesus. It's gotta be Jesus' tomb. It's gotta be Jesus' cross. It's gotta be Jesus on board your ship or you're not going to the other side. It's gotta be Jesus. It's got to be Jesus. It can't be anybody else. It's got to be Jesus. It's gotta be He who was dead and now liveth forevermore. It's gotta be the one, the Bible says, with man nothing are possible, but with God all things are possible. I guess we forget that verse too in a time of trouble, don't we? I guess every time we run into a storm and we feel full, we forget what the Holy Word tells us about our times of trouble. You might be going through something I can't physically walk up and help you. I might not be able to go and help you through your situation. But I know someone who can. Because with man, nothing is possible. But with God, all things are possible. He didn't stay there. You know what? You know why Jesus was asleep on his ship? Because he knew he was going to the other side. He knew he was going to make it there. He knows you're going to make it there. You just got to get there. It's going to be hard. It's going to be trouble sometimes. But you're going to get there. Life ain't always easy, especially this time of year. A lot of people start battling depression. things they start wondering and they try to start thinking and man I'm talking about they feel their own boat. You feel your own boat. You're worried about money or you're worried about something crazy or maybe you just missed a loved one that's gone wrong. I don't know. Stop feeling your own boat. We gotta keep pressing forward. We don't have time to stop. Our boats are getting full, and it's our own fault because we try to make it do on our own. Y'all remember that woman I was just talking about that crawled on her hands and her knees to the hymn of Jesus is gone. She said, I just know if I could touch his garment, I'll be healed. Y'all remember what she done before that? What everybody in this room's done before. We visit every physician. I'm talking about we visit every soothsayer, magician, whatever you want to call them, and we try to heal our own problems. Although I want to remind you what Daniel said, when none of them could interpret their dreams. He said, but there is a God in heaven, O King, never can ask of us that he can interpretate your dreams. You know what that woman knew that day she was crawling on the grass? She knew if I could just get to the hem of his garden. She done tried all her other resources. They done tried them all, brother here. But they ain't never tried Jesus. Because when you're full, he'll take it out of you. He'll take all that water, all that sorrow, all that depression, all the things that are mixed up in your life that you just don't know how to get over. out on y'all, and he'll get up in the midst of the storm, when the winds are raging, when the winds are blowing, the water's full on the boat, and he'll look at you and say, peace be still. Amen. Well, we just feel like we're perishing. Let me tell you, life ain't easy, is it? You feel like you're just giving in. Some of our family gives us a harder time than most anything you'll ever know. and wait when the waves are raging on, and you're almost home. Don't forget who's on board the ship. Don't forget who said, let us go to the other side. You know what's so great about this, this part of this chapter is? Is after all of this, They ran to Jesus. They said, Master, do you not care that we perish? Now, the master was on the ship. The master said, we're going over to the other side. The master decided, I'm going to take me a nap. And then all of a sudden, this storm came up. Ain't that how life works? And they ran to him and said, Master, do you not care that we perish? And he arose and rebuked the wind and said unto the sea, Peace be stilled. Bible doesn't stop there, y'all. It doesn't stop with Jesus saying, peace, be still. It doesn't stop when Jesus gets up and says, peace, be still. It goes on a little further. And it says, and the wind ceased. I'm glad he's made the wind cease in my life when I was full. was sinking, when I was going down, I felt the peace of the wind ceasing. I felt the peace of Jesus in my life. And he looks over and not only did the wind cease, but the Bible says, and there was a great Brother Eddie, you like to fish, don't you? How many times you been around the lake and there'll be no wind whatsoever? How many times you been in your life? Very few, right? Well, I promise you this day, and I believe this in my heart, and you write this down, take it to the bank. When Jesus got up and said, peace be still, there was not a breeze to come through. He had protected them. He had wrapped his loving, caring arms around them and said, don't you worry about a thing. It's gonna be all right. We're still going to the other side. We're still going to make it to the other side. I don't know why you're so scared today, Church. What's going on in your life that makes you so fearful? But the Bible says the only thing a Christian has to fear is God himself, because these storms ain't going to defeat us. Oh, it gets rough. And I'm glad I got the master on board with me. I got the captain of that old ship. I'm talking about when the peace of God, church, floods your soul, the tempest must stop existing. They must flee. But I tell you what, I want you to remember this right here. These disciples learned something here. In your times of your storm, when your boat's almost full, the winds are defeating you, beating you down, remember, that these right here only grew you closer to the captain on board. Oh, I tell you what, this ain't the only time they feared the Sea of Galilee. This time they feared with him on the boat. The next time they feared that he was off the boat. To the other side. I like that song the old ship was on. It said the winds, he says, the winds had beat the ship. The bow was up. He goes, I messed up. Hold on. The winds had beat it. But it says that old ship kept on sailing. Amen. I'm telling you, if you're on board the ship with Christ, the winds may beat it down. The waves may get on the inside. But that ship will never stop sailing till it reaches the end of its voyage. Today, I know several people in the room that's lost someone they love, the ship that's headed to the other side. The Bible also mentions that there's some other ships along with it. Friendship Baptist Church, I believe, is one of those ships along with it. But there's also another voyage that's taking place. For those of you who don't know Jesus Christ, you're on a voyage. Your ship is full. It's full of sorrows, full of pains, and most importantly, it's full of your sins. You say, how do I get out of this boat and onto the one you talked about this morning? Believe on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Amen. He's the captain. that can pull you out the pits of hell and place you on the old ship of Zion. It's his blood that gives you the ticket. It's his blood that paid the price. It's his blood that got me to where I'm at today. It's his righteousness that gave me access to the ship that I'm on. It's his blood, nothing I've ever done. We was up in the mountains the other day just riding around and we didn't know when we got up there was going to be ice and all that. Mom and them, they were scared. They were terrified. Cole was always scared when we go up the side of the mountains and she looks off the drop off. So is. Your good deeds are going to give you access to the ship that I'm speaking about at this point. But I promise you this much, if you try to go by good deeds alone, you'll die and fall off into a devil's hell. Amen. But if you trust Jesus Christ this morning, the reason for it ceasing, I didn't think I was gonna throw Christmas in there, did you? The reason for it ceasing, you'll get to the other side. You'll get to the other side. And the beautiful thing about this, Brother Eddie, is nobody, and I mean nobody, can get me off this ship. Amen. I can't even depart from it if I wanted to. I don't know why a fool would want to depart from the love of God and get off the boat that he's carrying to the other side. Could you imagine these disciples there that day? I bet you they was going absolutely crazy. Kind of like the church, Sister Tammy. Especially when something starts going wrong. They start going crazy. Mind starts racing. Man, we're about to die, we're about to die, we're about to die. You look back there, in the back part of the ship, and you see Jesus sleeping. I'd stop worrying right there, because he ain't worried what I got to worry about. If he's not worried about getting to the other side, I'm not worried about it. Because you know why he said we was going? Stop letting these storms defeat you, church. Stop letting these battles overtake your faith. And realize that you've been invited to go to the other side. I'll tell you what. I'm glad today that Jesus invited me to go to the other side. And I'm glad today that I know who Jesus is. Amen. Y'all know that was uh, I'm sure Kent was gonna sing that song this morning, but he didn't. It's just like him to throw you a curveball, ain't it? I tell you what, that guitar sounded a whole lot better in your hands than it did mine. That's alright though. And I saw an old ship that was sailing. Is that the old ship of Zion I see? Its whole was bent and battered from the storm. Oh, ship of Zion, I see. The stern of the ship stood the captain. I could hear as he called out my name. Get on board. the old ship of Zion. It will never pass this way again. I'm going to sing this last part of this song. And this morning, if you've never stepped on board, take the invitation to go to the other side with Jesus. Maybe there's something in your life that's got your boat full. Why don't you step and come on down and go ahead and take care of that this morning. As I stand On board I'll be leaving all my sorrows and heartache behind. I'll be safe with Jesus. Amen. If you'd like to come this morning, you can come. If there's something you need to deal with, start here at the altar. And the Lord will meet you here. If you're not saved here today, you just step out in faith. Jesus will take care of the rest. So all you have to do is step out in childlike faith.