June 4th, 2025
The Upward Look, by Jon Forrest
Faith = Trust = Risk
See Matthew 14:25-32
There is the story of a man who was on his horse galloping swiftly along the road. An old farmer standing in the fields seeing him pass by called out, "Hey, rider where are you going?" The rider turned around and shouted back, "Don’t ask me; ask my horse!"
When we are living by faith, we are riding on God’s power and leading. Jesus was constantly trying to help his disciples to ride on him and trust in him. One such occasion is what I want to share with you today…
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29 “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.
A farmer wanted to impress his hunting buddies. He bought the smartest, most expensive hunting dog he could find. He trained this dog to do things no other dog on earth could do---impossible feats that would surely amaze anyone. Then he invited the neighbors to go duck hunting with him. After a long patient wait in the boat a group of ducks flew over and the hunters were able to make a few hits. Several ducks fell in the water. "Go get ‘em!" shouted the proud owner to his magnificent dog. The dog leaped out of the boat, walked on the water, and picked up a bird and returned to the boat. As soon as he dropped the duck in the boat, he trotted off across the water again and grabbed another duck and brought it back to the boat. The owner beamed with pride as his wonderful dog walked across the water and retrieved each of the birds one by one. Unable to resist the opportunity to brag a bit; he asked his fellow hunters, "Do you notice anything unusual about my dog?” One of them rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Yes," he finally said. "Come to think of it, I do! That silly dog doesn’t know how to swim does he?"
Many give Peter the same reaction. Instead of recognizing that he was the only disciple to have the faith to even step out of the boat, he’s criticized for his lack of faith. He draws close to Christ while 11 other disciples sit in the boat, content in their perceived safety
Why is it that Peter was able to walk on water? Faith led him to trust in Jesus, making it possible for him to risk his life for the sake of rising above his circumstances.
The life of faith is a journey. We have moments of giant faith and moments of lacking faith. We have moments when we fully trust Jesus and others when we misplace our faith and begin to sink in life. But, like Peter, if we turn our eyes back on Jesus, we find that we can rise to the top and walk with him on top of the waves.
The writer of Hebrews gives us a great description of faith.
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1
Confidence in our hope
Faith is never satisfied with the status quo.
Faith knows that God has something better for our future.
Assurance of the invisible.
Faith sees the evidence of God even though God himself is unseen.
There is a story of a Christian man who was in the French foreign legion. His marching partner was an avid atheist. As they marched side by side the atheist constantly argued against the existence of God with the Christian.
He would say things like, “Can you see God?” “No.” “Can you hear God?” “No.” “Can you sense him with any of your five senses?” “No.” “Then how can God exist?”
One morning the men were breaking camp and preparing to march when the atheist declared, “A herd of camels passed through here last night.”
The Christian asked, “Did you see the camels?” “No.” Did you hear the camels?” “No.” Did you experience the camels with any of your five senses?” “No.” Then how do you know for a fact that they came through here?”
The atheist replied, “I saw their tracks in the sand.”
“Ah,” said the Christian, “Now you know how I can believe in God. He has left his footprints in everything.”
2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Hebrews 11:2-6
Are you focused on Jesus Christ enough to risk everything you have on him? If you do, you will live a life above the stormy sea!
A train traveled through the night in a violent rainstorm. The lightning flashes were almost blinding, the rain hitting the windows was deafening and the strong gusty winds rocked the train from side to side. When the lightning flashed and lighted up the darkness, the passengers could see the rising water along the tracks. This created terror in the minds of the passengers. Several passengers noted that through all the noise, lightening and wind, one of the passengers, a little girl, seemed to be at perfect peace. The adult passengers couldn’t figure out why the little girl was so calm during all this excitement. Finally, one passenger asked her, “How can you be so calm when all the rest of us are so worried about what might happen?” The little passenger smiled and said, “My father is the engineer.”
Faith = Trust = Risk
See Matthew 14:25-32
There is the story of a man who was on his horse galloping swiftly along the road. An old farmer standing in the fields seeing him pass by called out, "Hey, rider where are you going?" The rider turned around and shouted back, "Don’t ask me; ask my horse!"
When we are living by faith, we are riding on God’s power and leading. Jesus was constantly trying to help his disciples to ride on him and trust in him. One such occasion is what I want to share with you today…
22 Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. 23 After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. Later that night, he was there alone, 24 and the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it.
25 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. 26 When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.
27 But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”
28 “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
29 “Come,” he said.
Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, “Lord, save me!”
31 Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. “You of little faith,” he said, “why did you doubt?”
32 And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down.
A farmer wanted to impress his hunting buddies. He bought the smartest, most expensive hunting dog he could find. He trained this dog to do things no other dog on earth could do---impossible feats that would surely amaze anyone. Then he invited the neighbors to go duck hunting with him. After a long patient wait in the boat a group of ducks flew over and the hunters were able to make a few hits. Several ducks fell in the water. "Go get ‘em!" shouted the proud owner to his magnificent dog. The dog leaped out of the boat, walked on the water, and picked up a bird and returned to the boat. As soon as he dropped the duck in the boat, he trotted off across the water again and grabbed another duck and brought it back to the boat. The owner beamed with pride as his wonderful dog walked across the water and retrieved each of the birds one by one. Unable to resist the opportunity to brag a bit; he asked his fellow hunters, "Do you notice anything unusual about my dog?” One of them rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Yes," he finally said. "Come to think of it, I do! That silly dog doesn’t know how to swim does he?"
Many give Peter the same reaction. Instead of recognizing that he was the only disciple to have the faith to even step out of the boat, he’s criticized for his lack of faith. He draws close to Christ while 11 other disciples sit in the boat, content in their perceived safety
Why is it that Peter was able to walk on water? Faith led him to trust in Jesus, making it possible for him to risk his life for the sake of rising above his circumstances.
The life of faith is a journey. We have moments of giant faith and moments of lacking faith. We have moments when we fully trust Jesus and others when we misplace our faith and begin to sink in life. But, like Peter, if we turn our eyes back on Jesus, we find that we can rise to the top and walk with him on top of the waves.
The writer of Hebrews gives us a great description of faith.
Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. Hebrews 11:1
Confidence in our hope
Faith is never satisfied with the status quo.
Faith knows that God has something better for our future.
Assurance of the invisible.
Faith sees the evidence of God even though God himself is unseen.
There is a story of a Christian man who was in the French foreign legion. His marching partner was an avid atheist. As they marched side by side the atheist constantly argued against the existence of God with the Christian.
He would say things like, “Can you see God?” “No.” “Can you hear God?” “No.” “Can you sense him with any of your five senses?” “No.” “Then how can God exist?”
One morning the men were breaking camp and preparing to march when the atheist declared, “A herd of camels passed through here last night.”
The Christian asked, “Did you see the camels?” “No.” Did you hear the camels?” “No.” Did you experience the camels with any of your five senses?” “No.” Then how do you know for a fact that they came through here?”
The atheist replied, “I saw their tracks in the sand.”
“Ah,” said the Christian, “Now you know how I can believe in God. He has left his footprints in everything.”
2 This is what the ancients were commended for.
3 By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Hebrews 11:2-6
Are you focused on Jesus Christ enough to risk everything you have on him? If you do, you will live a life above the stormy sea!
A train traveled through the night in a violent rainstorm. The lightning flashes were almost blinding, the rain hitting the windows was deafening and the strong gusty winds rocked the train from side to side. When the lightning flashed and lighted up the darkness, the passengers could see the rising water along the tracks. This created terror in the minds of the passengers. Several passengers noted that through all the noise, lightening and wind, one of the passengers, a little girl, seemed to be at perfect peace. The adult passengers couldn’t figure out why the little girl was so calm during all this excitement. Finally, one passenger asked her, “How can you be so calm when all the rest of us are so worried about what might happen?” The little passenger smiled and said, “My father is the engineer.”
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