I’m not going to take too long tonight, but I do believe the Lord has given me a message for this day in this hour here tonight. Amen. I’m not going to take too long, I promise.
But if you have your Bibles, we’re going to be going to Matthew the 14th chapter.
And we’re going to read verses 24 through 31. I got real loud all of a sudden, Matthew chapter 14, verses 24 through 31. If you have it, please stand for the reading of God’s word and reverence to him and to his holy word. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Before we get going, Pastor Terry asked me.
A week and a half two weeks ago.
If I would be willing to preach and Pastor Terry, I would like to say I’m.
I am humbled and I appreciate the opportunity to speak of God’s goodness and his glory, and I give him all glory and all honor. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. But when?
When Pastor Terry asked me, I got a message.
Started preparing and I was prepared pretty well in advance.
And it was the story of the fig tree. And it went right along with this week. And I said, well, praise the Lord.
Always Choose Faith Over Fear – Matthew 14
But on Monday this week, Lord started dealing with me. I I go through the the before I preach, I take the my notes, I go down in the basement into the bathroom.
And I preached to the mayor, Pastor Lane, I preached to the mayor.
And I joke with the kids and I say, you know, brother shower curtain over here, I’m still working on him. He’s going to give his heart to the Lord one of these days. Amen. If Josh would preach the word. Amen. But I make light of it. But I go through the message. But I was struggling. I would go through it. And I thought, why am I struggling so hard?
You know, I grew up on a farm. I had mules.
Mules can sometimes be honory. It was locking the brakes and I’m pulling and I’m like Lord, I’m not about to if it ain’t wanting to go, I’m not gonna pull on it. That’s not my job.
That’s not I can’t force this thing, but God knows what we have need of praise. The Lord. He shifted the message at the last moment. I have both papers here, but for the next few moments I would like to speak on the topic. Faith over fear and our text. Tonight comes from Matthew, chapter 14. We’re going to read verses 24 through 31.
But the ship was now in the midst of the sea. Brother Mikey tossed with waves for the wind, was contrary, and in the 4th watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea. Come on. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled. Saying it is a spirit.
And they cried out for fear. But straight away Jesus spake unto them, saying be of good cheer. It is I be not afraid, Hallelujah. And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou bid me come unto thee on the water.
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And he said.
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Come.
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Hallelujah come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water.
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To go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid and beginning to sink, and he cried, saying Lord save me.
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And immediately, Jesus stretched forth his hand and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, where didst thou thy?
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How will you? Let’s go to the Lord and prayer one more time. Lord, we thank you God for your word. I pray Jesus that this word would go forth and it would not return void. As your word says, Jesus, Lord, I pray God that you would God my heart, my mind and everything that I say tonight. Jesus that it be uplifting and in accordance to your precious.
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Word and in Jesus name Amen. And Amen. This is a very familiar passage of of script.
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Nature.
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But it’s layered with deep meaning in the previous few verses. If we read Jesus performed a miracle of feeding the 5000 with five loaves and two fishes. But interesting Jesus stays behind and he tells his disciples to board a ship and go to the other side.
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And so they do so.
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But as they the Bible tells us, as they set out across the waters.
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The waters were troubled.
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The wind was contrary.
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And I began to think about this.
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Jesus knew about the problem on the waters.
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He knew that the waves were tossing. He knew that the wind was rough.
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But he said, go.
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And I began to think about that. And I thought there there’s got to be something more there. Lord, what are you trying to tell me?
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I’m also reminded that this week is Holy Week.
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And on Sunday, on Palm Sunday, Jesus.
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Pointed his donkey directly towards Jerusalem and he rode into Jerusalem knowing.
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Oh, someone help me preach knowing that there were some troubled waters up ahead, but it didn’t slow him down.
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He went. He didn’t. He didn’t delay, he didn’t hang out. He knew that there was a mission to accomplish. You see, sometimes in our walk with Christ, there’s going to be some troubled waters. But we know who can speak to the wind and the waves and calm the sea.
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I don’t serve a weak God and he I know that the word says that he does have good plans for me, and I believe that and I receive that. But Jesus was on a mission and in this section of scripture that we just read, he was about to teach a very important lesson to his disciples.
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Faith over fear. Faith over fear. Hallelujah. When he showed up on on Palm Sundays on Palm Sunday.
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The crowd, which welcomed him in.
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Would shortly be the crowd calling out to crucify him.
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Think about that for a moment. Hallelujah. Think about that for a moment. Glory to his name and the innocent son of God would have a crown of thorns placed on his head, and he knew it. He knew all these things were coming to pass.
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Faith over fear. Scripture number one. I have 3 scriptures that I want to give tonight.
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Is a very familiar section of Scripture, Psalms 23, verse 4. Yay.
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Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.
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I will fear no evil. I will fear no evil.
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Why? For thou art with me.
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He’s never left me not one single time. Has he ever left me. I wish I could say that I have been fully obedient and walked, and I followed him closely like I should my whole life. But.
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That wouldn’t be true.
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He’s never failed me.
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Hallelujah.
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He’s never failed me.
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For thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me. Oh, glory. Ohh. Glory to his name. Glory to his name. And then the scripture goes on to tell us that in the 4th watch Jesus went to them, walking on the water.
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And when he saw the disciples?
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He saw that they were troubled and they cried out. And what’s that word again?
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Fear.
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Fear.
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Fear is a strategy of the enemy.
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The enemy uses it against God’s children because fear is a powerful human emotion. Fear will cause us to panic. Fear will cause us to freeze up, or worse. We start forgetting who is in control.
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Fear.
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And I proclaim tonight, faith.
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Over fear, glory to his name. Hold your faith over fear. Glory to his name.
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But when Peter and the disciples looked down, they thought it was a spirit walking on the water.
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A ghost. Hallelujah, they thought.
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What?
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But Jesus was going into a teaching moment. Hallelujah that we can. I can learn from. We can all learn from. I can learn from. Thank you, Jesus.
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Faith over fear, Scripture, #2 second Timothy 1:00 and 7:00.
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For God has not given us the spirit of fear.
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I’m gonna read that again, for God has not given us the spirit of fear. So where is the spirit of fear coming from?
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Yeah.
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But of.
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Power.
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Oh my.
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But of power, power of the Holy Ghost, power of the fruit of the spirits, power of the gifts of the spirits and operation in our life. Because the devil don’t stand a chance against the blood of Jesus. He don’t stand a chance against the power of the blood of Jesus glory.
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To his name, but he has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind. Glory to.
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His name?
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When that fear starts.
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Gripping us and I’ll have you know, I’m preaching to myself.
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Tonight.
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I don’t know if you’ve ever experienced that.
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God gave me something.
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That I need to.
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Work through and so I’m preaching to myself.
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Is that alright?
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Y’all can listen. Y’all can listen. You can aiding in me if you get in there. But I’m preaching to myself. Fear will grip you.
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It is a powerful human emotion.
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And God has not given us the spirit of fear, brothers and sisters, but of power and of love, and of a sound mind. Oh, I love that scripture, my mind. I’m gonna start running here in just a moment. Sister Julie. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. But Peter was still skeptical, wasn’t he? He was still skeptical.
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He says this, but Lord.
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If it is you.
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I love him. I I relate to him in a lot of ways, Hallelujah and I’m. I’m not afraid to admit that Lord, if it is you, I’m still.
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You know, really.
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If it is you bid me come unto you, but I love.
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His heart.
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He said, hey, I want that kind of faith. I want that kind of faith because first I was afraid.
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But I proclaim faith over fear.
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And we know that the Lord said come.
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Now here’s where I start.
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Really.
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Preaching at myself pretty hard.
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Everything.
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In my human mind, tells me that it is not possible.
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Everything in my mind tells me.
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That I know the buoyancy of the human body, I know.
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The formulas for the surface tension of the water. I’m an engineer. I calculate all day. I figure things out. I look at problems, I analyze them. I draw Rd. maps. I’m a problem solver. That’s what I do. That’s my profession. So when I read this.
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I start struggling a little.
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Bit.
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Hmm.
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Yeah, because I know.
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Has anybody seen anyone walk on water?
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Because my mind is trying to wrap itself around this concept here.
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But I’ve come to realize, with these increasingly Gray hairs here on the front of my face, I’ve come to realize something very important. I realize that faith begins where my understanding ends.
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Faith begins where my understanding ends. Hallelujah.
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Hallelujah.
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Hallelujah.
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I don’t understand it, but I know that I know that it’s possible because with God all things are possible and if he says step out of the boat.
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Step out of the boat.
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He is the God of the impossible. I told you. I’m preaching that myself here tonight.
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I have a hard time with this. I’ve analyzed it six times. This Sunday I’ve been there. I’ve run around it 16 times. I’ve thought about it. I’ve made an Excel spreadsheet. I don’t understand it, but I know God can do.
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Thank you, Jesus.
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And Peter walked on the water.
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Somebody say show enough.
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So enough, he walked on the water.
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Show enough.
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Glory to his name. I don’t know how he did it, but he did. Ohh, I don’t know how he did it, buddy. He did glory to his name because nothing is impossible.
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With God nothing, nothing is dead in the hands of God. Absolutely nothing. Your situation is not too bad that the Lord cannot turn it around.
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How would you somebody give him a praise? Somebody give him a praise. Glory to his name.
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Yeah.
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Hallelujah. Ohh. Hallelujah. Thank you, Jesus. Glory to his name. Hallelujah. So Peter walks on the water and he goes out a little bit farther, defying everything in physics. Just toss the book out the back door. See you later.
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Ohh glory.
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Faith over fear, scripture, #3.
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Says this Isaiah 4110. Oh, that’s a good one.
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Fear not, for I am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you. I will help you. I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. When Peter started going under the waves.
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Now a lot of times I hear this.
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Preached.
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Peter did take his eyes off the Lord and he looked around at the situation, but I want to point something else out tonight.
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Jesus never took his eyes off Peter.
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He didn’t.
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He didn’t look away. You know why? He noticed him going under? Because he kept an eye on him.
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He never stopped looking at him. Jesus wasn’t out here.
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Pretty nice, isn’t it? Where did Peter go? Where’d he go? No, he was watching him. He’s the Good Shepherd. We can trust him if he says step out of the.
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Boat.
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Yeah.
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Y’all know where I’m going with this. If he says step out of the boat, everything in my mind says this ain’t gonna work. It ain’t gonna work. This isn’t gonna work. It’s not possible.
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I’ve got to toss that out.
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And I’ve got to claim faith over the fear. Faith over doubt. Faith is what we need. How will you faith over anxiety? We’ve got to get it all out. We got to replace it with that word. Faith. Glory to his name. Hallelujah. And I’m aware of the time. Hallelujah. I’m.
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Thank you, Jesus.
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Thank you, Jesus. If everyone would go ahead and stand tonight if they would go ahead and come back to the music. I know we’re doing this again, but praise the Lord.
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Amen.
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Now I love this next part.
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Jesus never took his eyes off of him.
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And the scripture says this.
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It doesn’t say in a few moments it doesn’t say seconds. It doesn’t say there was a delayed reaction.
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As soon as he needed help.
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Jesus was there and he reached down and he grabbed him. You’re not going under today.
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You’re not going under today.
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I proclaim faith over fear today. Jesus knew there were rough waters up ahead. The path of our lives and our Christian walk is going to take us through some rough waters, but I proclaim that there is a friend.
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For a man that hath friends must show himself friendly, but there is a friend that sticketh closer.
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Then a brother.
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Glory to his name.
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Maybe you’re afraid of something. God is asking you to.
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Do.
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You’re going to have to put.
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Faith over fear. You’re going to have.
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To empty out.
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Everything says it ain’t going to.
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Happen.
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But if God is calling you out.
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I assure you that when your foot.
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Hey, never let me down and he ain’t about to start and he is not going to let you down and he is not about to start.
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He never fails.
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If he calls you out of the boat.
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And you take the first step. The first step is the most difficult. In faith, it’s the unknown sister Julie.
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Right.
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If I said go to the Grand Canyon and jump to the other side, everything says that ain’t going to happen.
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That’s not going to happen. I can’t physically do that, but God can, because with God, all things are possible. Glory to his name, glory to his name. Maybe you’re afraid of something. God is asking.
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You to do.
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Maybe you’re afraid of something God isn’t doing. That’s just as that’s just as terrifying. Maybe he’s not doing something, but we trust him and we obey him. Glory to his name. I’m going to make one more invitation here tonight.
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Fear is a liar.
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Fear is a liar. It will keep you from places that you were meant to go.
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Eagles are meant to soar.
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They’re not meant to live on the ground. They stay there. They’ll surely die.
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If that’s you tonight, if you’re saying you know what God’s calling me out to do something. God’s calling me out to do something. If that is you here tonight.
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Thank you.
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Don’t delay one more moment. Give it all over to Jesus.
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Thank you, Jesus.
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Yes.
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Brother, you told me. I’ll come here for.
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A reason?
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I’ve got a best friend back home and I’ve prayed for him my whole life. He found God in his garage two weeks ago. He told me he never felt nothing.
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Like.
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It, he said, drunk. There’s no doubt, he said. I there’s nothing ever felt this good in my life and I’m so thankful to hear it.
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And I swear, I think I’m about to lose. And he got clean off the stuff. They’ve been on his.
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Whole life and.
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You got the phone call, so I’ve been out of town this week and he’s just doing stuff he’s never done before. The devil knows what he found, but he’s he’s trying to take him from us. And I just said I come here for me and I need y’all to pray for my friend. He’s talking brother to me.
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Yes.
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Hallelujah. Let’s pray. Let’s pray right now.
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No place.
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No place I’d rather be no place I’d rather be.
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Hearing you love hearing your love, no place sad, rather be no place I’d rather be.
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No place I’d rather be here in your love hearing your love. Set a fire down in my soul that I can’t contain, that I can’t control. I want more of you guys.
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I want more of you. God set a fire down in my soul. It can take that I can’t control. I want more of you. God, I want more of you. God.
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yeah
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Oh Jesus.
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No place I’d rather be.
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No place I’d rather be no place I’d rather be here in your love. Hearing your love. No place I’d rather be. No place I’d rather be.
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No place I’d rather be here in your love hearing your love. Set a fire down in my soul that I can’t contain, that I can’t control. I want more of you guys.
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I want more of you guys.
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Set a fire down in my soul that I can’t contain that I can’t control. I want more of you. God, I want more of you. God.
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Hallelujah. Thank you. Jesus. The Lord has surely been in this place tonight. Glory to his name. Glory to his name.
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Praise the Lord.
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What’s God is just so good. He’s so good. He’s so good.
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Yes.
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As we pray, let’s remember those requests that were given tonight.
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Let’s remember our brother Cornelius.
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Praying for safe travels and the Lord would keep him and bless him. Lord, we thank you for this service here tonight. Jesus, we bless your name tonight. Lord. I pray God that faith would arise here tonight. Jesus Lord God be with us this week and I proclaim faith over fear in your mighty name.
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Thank you, Lord. We praise you for everything you’ve done here tonight. Glory to your holy name. Amen and Amen. Thank you, Jesus.
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Be.
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See you next Wednesday. Don’t forget Good Friday service prayer meeting this coming Friday, 7:00. Guys in the sanctuary.
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Amen.
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You.
