Elevation with Steven Furtick - Take Your Notes On The Boat!

Episode Date: August 2, 2026

Have you ever wished God would explain why you're going through something? You don't always need a new word from God — sometimes you need to remember the one He's already spoken. If you've been looking for peace, clarity, or confidence in a difficult season, discover how God's Word can help you trust Him even before you have all the answers. If you’ve just made a decision for Christ, please respond HERE: http://ele.vc/tIepfr Scripture References:Mark 4, verses 33-41 – Jesus teaches from boat then calms stormMark 4, verse 1 – Jesus teaches crowd from a boatMark 5, verses 1-2 – Jesus arrives at region of Gerasenes Additional Scriptures Referenced:Mark 4, verses 30-32 – Mustard seed grows into large plantMark 4, verses 3-20 – Sower's seed falls on various soilsRomans 10, verse 17 – Faith comes by hearing God's wordRomans 8, verses 1-2 – No condemnation for those in Christ1 John 1, verse 9 – Confessing sins brings forgiveness and cleansingJonah 1, verses 4-6 – Jonah slept during storm on shipSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. Hey, this is Stephen Ferdick. I'm the pastor of Elevation Church, and this is our podcast. I wanted to thank you for joining us today. Hope this inspires you. Hope it builds your fate. Hope it gives you perspective to see God is moving in your life.

Enjoy the message. Somebody clap those hands if you're blessed to be here today. If you feel like the person that you're sitting next to is good looking and full of the Holy Spirit, give God a praise for your neighbor. for the person that God sovereignly seated you next to. Chandler, don't clap that hard standing next to Holly. This is week three of our series. I know that voice.

Touch your neighbor. Say, I know that voice. I got a lot of things talking to me right now, a lot of fears talking to me. A lot of different voices trying to get in my head, but I know that voice. And I'm going to make it because I know that voice. and I'm going to get through this because I know that voice. And it has been such just an eye-opening last few weeks in the series. If you guys want to bring the pad down just a little bit,

I'm going to read a scripture today that may be familiar. Yeah, we're going to get into the word now. Thank you to each and every one of you that sowed into our love week this week and made it so incredible and special. Thank you for your giving. Thank you for your time. Thank you for putting your heart into it. I know a lot of people, a lot of people are smiling bigger this week because of you and such a privilege to be your pastor.

Today, we want to welcome our eFAM all around the world and share in this scripture. Let's go ahead and clap our hands and thank God for them. There have so many different countries that join us. Last week, or I think two weeks ago, there was a pastor here from India, and he gave me this shirt and he left it for me. And so I wish I had written down his name, but I will send him a thank you note. And right now, I just want to thank you in front of the whole world for the shirt with Jesus on it. I love Jesus. You love Jesus. Anyone I love Jesus in this place?

All right. Let me get organized here. We're going to be in Mark chapter 4, verse number 33 through 31. Or 41. That'd be weird, wouldn't it? We went backwards to verse 31. All right. I'm excited.

It's going to sound like these two things I read you don't go together, but they really, really do. And you'll see how they go together when we're done. But look at Mark chapter 4, verse 33. The scripture says, with many similar parables, Jesus spoke the word to them, as much as they could understand. Not as much as he could articulate, as much as they could understand. Not as much as he knew as much as they could understand. Not as much as he had, as much as they could handle. And he spoke to them as much as they could understand with parables.

He did not say anything to them without using a parable. But when he was alone with his own disciples, he explained everything. That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, let us go over to the other side, leaving the crowd behind. They took him along, just as he said. he was in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up and the waves broke over the boat so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, teacher, don't you care if we drown? He got up,

rebuke the wind and said to the waves, quiet, be still. Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith? And they were terrified and asked each other, who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him. Let's clap our hands and thank God for His Word today. You may be seated. You may be seated. Now those of you who are in a physical location, grab that elevation pin that we gave you when you came in and that worship guide that we gave you.

And I want you to write down the title of my message today as we get started. If you're watching online, I want you to put it in the comments. If you're watching live, put it in the chat. And the title of my message is this. Make sure you write this down. Take your notes on the boat. Take your notes on the boat. Put it in the chat, please, the comment section. Take your notes on the boat. I do notice that some of you take those pins we give you every week and I never see you write anything down that I say when I'm preaching. By way, a quick tip, if you're a server in a restaurant and I ever sit down at your table and you slip me in elevation,

pen, I will double your tip. I will do it. And I already tip good to begin with. So just imagine what percentage range we're talking if you slip me in elevation pen. No, it's good. It's good to take notes. But today I want to talk to you about take your notes on the boat. Did you write that down as the title? Take your notes on the boat. They're putting it all over the comments on YouTube too. Okay, good. Take your notes on the boat. Now, let me ask you a question. Have you ever had this happen to you? Have you ever watched a movie and then tried to describe the movie to somebody that didn't see it? And as you're describing it, you see a look in their eyes that's just like, you know, this is not this is not really going that good. And they say back to you like, I guess you had to be there. I guess you should go see it. You should go see it. It's crazy. It's crazy.

Have you ever done that before? Raise your hand if you've done that before. Okay. Second question. Have you ever tried to tell a dream to somebody that you had? And you start trying to describe the dream, right? And the more that you start trying to describe the dream, the more that you fear that they might check you into the mental institution, because the dream in your mind wasn't that crazy until you started to say it out loud, you know, like out to Holly. I was preaching. I was like preaching, but it was at elevation, but it wasn't at elevation. It was like, I had a baseball field, but it was like I wasn't preaching on the field. I was preaching in the bathroom, and I was holding the microphone, but it wasn't microphone.

It was a French fry, but it was a big French fry. It was like French fry. There was also a microphone. Trust me, it was crazy. And you kind of stop, and you just like, yeah, I can't describe it. All right. So have you ever heard a sermon? And when you went to try to tell somebody else how the sermon spoke to you, you're like,

man, I went to church. It was great. It was amazing. It was fire. It was so good. He talked about like stuff and it was good. And it was really good. Here, here, let me get out my notes. And then you start reading them your notes. And that doesn't make it better. It just makes it worse. So then you send them the link and they never watch it. But if they would watch it, they would see that it was amazing. But see, there's a difference between a description and an experience. And the reason is frustrating to try to tell somebody how good the Odyssey is, is because you had the experience and you're trying to give them the description, but all you can tell them is there's like storms and bad stuff happens.

And it's really good. Trust me, because you had the experience, but they're just getting the description. In the dream, you had the experience. You were immersed in it. It was real or than real. Your subconscious was telling you stuff that your conscious doesn't know. And you had the experience. But when you try to move from experience to description, it can get lost in translation.

And you start trying to tell somebody, man, I'm really getting a lot out of the word. God is speaking to me, and he was just speaking to me about peace. And you're like, yeah, yeah, what about peace? I don't know. I can't really. So you don't have anxiety anymore? Yeah, I still have anxiety, but I got peace. So you don't have that problem anymore?

Yeah, I got the problem. But I got peace. And the more you kind of explain it to them, the stranger it gets to them, because they're getting the description and you're having the experience. And the experiences, I've got the problem and the peace. The experiences, I've got the anxiety and I've got the word of God walking me through it. The experience is, my life situation hasn't improved, but my loyalty to the Lord is increasing day by day. There's a difference. In Mark chapter 4 we see a sharp distinction between the crowds and the disciples.

The crowds are getting a description of the kingdom of God, and the disciples are having an experience. There is a difference. I thought it would be helpful for us today to talk about what happens when you hear the Word of God, when you get a word from God. Sometimes God gives you something that is very, very valuable, but it doesn't go deep enough to make a difference in your life. I am concerned that God is giving us more than enough instruction, but sometimes there

is too little implementation to make the word flesh in your life. And sometimes it means that God will speak something to you that is so powerful, so profound, and so personal. it doesn't get a chance to go deep. Now, when we say deep, we don't mean complicated, because some of the deepest things that God will speak to you will be some of the most easy to understand and the most difficult to do. Isn't it the truth?

Sometimes God will speak to you about forgiveness, and it's simple to forgive, but it's deep. To forgive is hard, it's grueling, and you have to do it over and over again, but The choice is simple. I've got to let this go. I've got to let this go. Somebody say, I've got to let this go. And so the problem sometimes when God speaks to you about something like forgiveness or purity or a discipline in your life or something that he wants to show you, it will sound so simple

and it won't go deep. And then it doesn't make the difference. Now, in Mark chapter 4 verse 33, the Bible says that Jesus would speak to the crowds with parables. and then he would pull the disciples aside and explain everything to them when he was alone with his own disciples. I want you to see the contrast because my entire message hangs on it today. He would declare to the crowds. He would give them a declaration. And then he would pull the disciples aside for an explanation.

And in verse 34 it says he was alone with them to explain. everything. How amazing would it be to get an after-school tutorial with Jesus about the Word of God? After all, he is the Word of God. How would you like to be able to ask the Word of God about the Word of God? That would be an amazing class to sign up for. Well, the disciples had Jesus preaching to them along with the crowd and explaining to them alone what he said to the crowd. And I think it's so important that, to note that he would explain it to them when he was alone with them. Do you ever get alone with God about the words that he gives you? I mentioned last week how when I prepare my sermons, I have different people in my mind that I'm thinking of when I prepare.

How many of you heard that last week? How I talked about who's your jury when you're living your life? Who are the people that you put in your mind when you're making decisions? Are they going to approve? Are they going to judge me? Are they going to think I did a good job? And when I preach, I try to put people in the seats like Mike Mitchell, try to put people in the seats like Jesus. I try to put people in the seats that I know so I can minister to them.

And one of the people I mention is my best friend from childhood named Eric. And every week I preach, he's on the second row. And every week before I preach, I put him in the chair, and I just picture him. And I start preaching to him. And I start preaching real good in my mind. And I never say it as good out loud as I said it in my mind. You should hear the sermon in my head before I preach it. is so good because I'm speaking so specifically. But you know what? After I preach every week,

and I wanted to tell you this too, about 3 p.m., my phone buzzes, and I always know it's Eric. And I know that every week at 3 p.m., I'm going to get a text message from him, and it's going to be long, and it's going to tell me what God spoke to him that day. He's been doing this for seven years, and he's never missed a Sunday. Never. Sometimes he was 30 minutes late. When it gets to 3.30 and my phone isn't buzzing, I start having a panic attack. Like, oh, that must have been terrible today. Eric hasn't.

He always texts me. But then every October for the last few years, he gave me one of these. And this notebook is handwritten every single text that he sent me that year with every single thing that God spoke to him through the sermon that I preached. And he copies it in handwriting. And he doesn't just say, here were your three points, because I know those. Those were in my notes. These are his notes.

And in his notes, he says, when you said this, God said that. You didn't hear me. When you said this to them, God said this to me. God said this to me, because there is a difference between hearing an explanation and having a demonstration. There is a difference between hearing something described, you see, and having something experienced in your life. And what he's saying every week when he sends that text at 3 p.m., how does he send it at 3 p.m.?

The sermon doesn't even go up live till 5. He hits record on the voice memo of his phone and bootlegs my sermon because he can't wait till the sermon goes up and pulls up the transcript so that he can go back through the notes that he missed and listens to it and then sits with his wife and says, what did you hear from the sermon today? I think God was trying to tell you this. I don't know if he ever does that. Don't do that. But this is what God said to me. This is where it gets personal to me. Did you know that God wants to say something to you personal?

Yes, you. God wants to say something to you personal today. You threw the camera. You in India. You in Lafayette, Indiana. You on the fourth row in Valentine. You at Riverwalk. You in the hospital room.

You driving in the car. You on the treadmill. You curling 45-pound dumbbells in the gym. Listen to me, trying not to lust in the gym. God has a word for you. And it can be personal. And it can be powerful, but it cannot be either of those if you do not process it. So just touch somebody.

Say, take notes. That's all I'm trying to say is take notes. When God gives a word to you, write it down somewhere, not just on a page, but in your heart. Put it down somewhere. Don't just keep coming and getting words that you never water. Don't just keep coming to church and hearing things. And when they ask you about it Monday, what did the preacher say? You say, stuff.

Have something you can pull out and say, I'll tell you. what he said. He told me that if I'll get alone with Jesus, Jesus will speak to me. He'll pull me aside. He'll tell me things about raising my kids that I can't learn from a psychology book. He'll tell me things about dealing with addiction that I can't even learn from counseling. Jesus speaks to me. So he'd pull him aside, see, and he'd say, you know that parable last year? Well, here's what it means. So imagining that the disciples would take copious notes, because they knew when he's getting done sharing this very deep parable, everybody say deep about the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed.

They write that down, the kingdom of God is like a mustard seed. And then when they would get them alone, see, they pull them aside and they say, hey, Jesus, imagine it's like Peter. He's like, I know what you mean by mustard seed, but I'm not sure John knows what you meant. So why don't you break it down for John? Because I wrote down this thing about the mustard seeds. So maybe you just go a little deeper on that, and he'd take them a little deeper. He said, the kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed.

It's like something that starts small, and then all the birds of the air nest in its branches. So don't despise small starts in your life because something that looks so insignificant could end up having a legacy. Don't despise five days of sobriety. Don't despise 15 days of sobriety. Don't despise a decision to read your Bible for five minutes a day because it starts small, but it's significant. See, God doesn't judge significance by size of the seed. He judges it by depth of the word. And so some of the greatest things God will do in your life, don't diminish them because they may look small, but it may be deep.

He would just explain stuff like that. And they can't write fast enough. Okay, okay. So then Jesus, how about that parable you share? Because it said he taught many parables. In fact, go all the way back up to the beginning of Mark chapter 4. I feel the Holy Spirit in this place today. I'm excited about what God is going to show us.

It says, again, Jesus began to teach by the lake. The crowd that gathered around him was so large that he got into a boat and sat in it out on the lake, while all the people were along the shore at the water's edge. And he started talking to them, and they started, I'm sure Matthew was taking notes because he is a tax collector. He was a record keeper. So, I mean, Jesus says, the kingdom of heaven is like a man who goes in scatter seeds, like a farmer who's scatter seed, and some of it fell on the path, and some of it fell, got eaten up by the birds, and some of it got scorched by the sun, and some of it got choked out

by the thorns, but some of it fell in good soil, and it produced 30, 60 and 100fold, and a good return, and you can't write fast enough. And then they get together later talking about, what do you say, 30, 60 and 100 fold? No, I think he said 30, 40, 40, no, he said 30, 60 and 100 fold. Not 3040 and 100 fold. He said 30, okay, 30, 60, 100, fold. And then we're going to ask him later. Jesus, what did you mean about that 30, 60, and 100?

Sometimes when God is speaking to you, you don't even have to know what it means to know that it hits you deep. Isn't that true? Hadn't you ever just had the Lord say something to you and you're like, ooh, that's for me? What does it mean? I don't know. I'm going to ask him later. I'm going to take this word Sunday afternoon.

I'm going to take this word Monday. I'm going to take this word Tuesday. I'm going to talk about it to people. I'm going to ask friends that I can trust who are also walking with Jesus. I am going to take the investment of God's Word and see a return on it. I have a question. How many of you have a money manager that looks after your money, somewhere where you invest your money? Okay, here's the question.

If your money manager manage your money the way you manage the investment of God's word, would you keep it? Because when God gives you words, when God speaks to you, it's an investment. His voice is in investment. And so if God is just speaking all this stuff, imagine that God is entrusting you with His word. So God's giving you a word. God's giving you something. Every time he speaks, he gives you something. And then imagine if you went to your money manager and you're like, hey, that money that I've been given you the last couple of years, what did you do with it?

And it's like, I don't know, I don't really write it down or anything. You didn't? Write it down. So, lest we get into a condemnation conversation about taking notes, and my notes are better than your notes, and I have more colors of highlighted. Let me tell you can highlight your way to hell. Because the people who knew the Bible the best were the Pharisees, and they killed Jesus. So I mean, you can circle adjectives and nouns and verbs.

That's grammar, not God. That's an explanation, not an experience. an experience. Somebody say an experience. An experience is when God gives you a word, and then that word is tested. Watch this. After all day long with Jesus, hearing him teach about the kingdom of God, hearing him expound upon the principles and parables, he says something very interesting in verse 35. It says, that day, when evening came, he said to his disciples, let us go over to the other side. Now, notice what he did not mention when he invited them to get in the boat and go to the other side. He did not find it significant to mention to them that by going to the other side and obeying his instructions,

they would face a storm so furious that their very lives would be threatened. He left that part out. And now I've got to know something. Why would a Jesus, who explained everything to his disciples, not tell them about a storm they were about to face in an hour? It's because Jesus teaches deep, but he doesn't always give details. He teaches deeply how to trust him. He teaches deeply about surrender, but he does not always give the details, which is why the disciples were totally surprised by the storm.

We were just listening to him teach on the shore all day. That was wonderful. We got so many notes. But now it looks like we're not even going to be able to go over our notes because we're about to die. And we don't even know where we're going. Our dog, Bo, has two fears in life. One is suitcases and one is storms.

Anytime we start packing a suitcase, he starts to tremble and shake. I guess he thinks we may never come back this time. How many of you have a dog that doesn't like to see when you roll the suitcases out? So that's normal? Because I was thinking about getting him some dog therapy, but that's normal? I was thinking about getting him some medication, but that's normal? And then the other thing is a storm. I'm telling you, I was looking for confirmation this morning that this was the right message

to preach to you. And I was down there at the dining room table looking at all the empty chairs thinking about preaching to you this message called Take Your Notes on the boat. And I was thinking about preaching how sometimes God gives us something and we go into a storm that we didn't see coming. And we have to find a God that we are still getting to know in the middle of a storm that we didn't see coming. And as I was sitting at the table, I heard Bo come. and down the stairs because I don't know who Bo's favorite is in the house. But any time there's a storm, he knows who to go to, he has to find the alpha. And so anytime there's a storm and it starts to scare him, he doesn't want mom.

He can get a treat for mom. But when a storm comes, he needs to find the master of the house. That's right. Because he knows I need to get next to the most powerful person in this house. I don't know what this sound means. I don't know what this rain means. But I know who runs this joint, and I'm going to get at his feet. I hear God saying to somebody, find Jesus in your storm.

He's the alpha and omega. All right. All right. All right. Sit down. Let me preach. You need to take notes. So they find Jesus, Jesus, the teacher who has been teaching all day.

And the teacher who has been speaking all day is not pacing around the debt. He's not pacing. He's not sitting. He's not even praying. He is doing something very spiritual. And it goes like this. You hear that? Sometimes when God speaks, it sounds like this.

And you're thinking to yourself like I'm thinking, Jesus, they need you to teach them what to do in the storm. Jesus, I need you to teach me what to do about this problem. Jesus, I need you to teach me what to do with this anxiety. Jesus, I need you to teach me what to do with this thing. God, Jesus, I need you to teach me what to do in this crisis. And he said, I'm still teaching while I'm sleeping. Because I'm teaching you, how can I put it? I'll get it, Lord.

I'm teaching you that if I told you we're going to the other side, no storm can stop us. See, I think when they were taking notes, they stopped writing too soon. because they wrote down the parable of the soils and the sower and the birds snatched the seed and the sun scorched the seed and the thorns choked the seed and some 30, some 60, some 100 fold and first the head, then the sprout and all this stuff that they wrote and then they got in the boat and they put up their notes. But don't you think the reason he was speaking to them all day was to get them ready for this storm

that they didn't know they were going to face. And don't you think the reason that Jesus has been speaking to you is to prepare you for something that you didn't even know that you were going to face? And I came to tell you, you've got the word that you need for the wind that you didn't even know you were going to face. You've already got the word that you would need for the wind that you would need for the wind that you didn't know you were going to face. See, while he was teaching all day, Romans 1017 says, faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God.

The reason he was surprised at their lack of faith is because he had given them so much word. How can I give you so much word, and you still have so little faith? How can I invest so much? How can I bring you from so far? How can I do so much? You look at your life. You already beat the odds.

You look at your life. You already should have been a statistic. You look at your life. There have already been such darknesses in your life. You look at your life. There have already been so many things that you were uniquely qualified for, not unqualified for, uniquely qualified for. And now you think God can't use you?

And now you think God doesn't got you? And now you think this storm is going to stop. something that you didn't even start to begin with. So Peter is panicking. And John might be even a little freaked out. And everybody's rocking on the boat. And it's like, whoa, it was awesome on the shore. But now we got to take what God gave us on the shore and apply it in the storm. And here's what I know. Here's what I know. If they would have pulled out their notes, see, on the boat. Not just on the shore. It's wonderful to study the Word of God in here. It is wonderful to quote this. It is wonderful. Make a graphic and like this sermon, but don't just like it. Live it. Live it. Take your notes on the boat. Take your notes into the storm. Find the feet of the master in the storm. Because he said something. He said something. Touched your people. Say he said something. He said something. He said something. He said something. He said something. Come on, this is an interactive sermon.

Touch three other people say he said something. Come on, touch 12 people like 12 disciples. Say he said something. He said something. He's put it in the chat. He said something. He said something. He said something.

Maybe Matthew speaks up about this time. Peter's panic. We're going to die. He doesn't care. Fear will start shouting crazy things to you when you start taking on water, when your boat starts to get swamped, when the depression starts to flood back in. When you read the doctor report, I thought it was going to be better.

I've been on this treatment. It's not any better. How am I going to live without my mom? She's getting sicker. She doesn't even remember me. Maybe God has forgotten us. That's what the disciples said. You don't even care that we perish.

You don't even care. You taught us all day. You said the kingdom was like this, and the kingdom is like this. And then here comes the storm, and the storm in that moment is louder than his voice. Have you ever had a storm that was louder than his voice? Where now I can't hear the voice of God because it's drowned out by the doubt. The storm gets louder than the Lord.

But oh, I wish they would have took out that notebook. Because I know one of them. I don't know who. I think it might have been Andrew. I think Andrew wrote down something. He said something. Wait a minute, wait a minute. I know we're going through a storm right now.

Wait a minute, wait a minute, I know your heart is broken right now. Wait a minute, wait a minute. I know you're still dealing with this. Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, I know you lost you up. Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute, I know that the prison sentence didn't get reduced. Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. I know that the custody battle is looking real crazy. Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. I know you found drugs on their best thing. Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. I know you found drugs. Wait a minute, wait a minute. I know that you're dealing with some stuff too

and you can't even talk to them about it because you're dealing with your own stuff. Wait a minute, wait a minute. I know you're drinking a little too much. It's not social anymore. Wait a minute. I know it's drowning out the voice of you believing that you're more to conquer. But he said something. He said something. And while everything in your senses is telling you you're going under,

I want to remind you he said something. He said something. And maybe Andrew pulled out his notebook. And maybe he wrote it down word for word. Where he said in verse 35, right before he went to sleep. No, I got it right here. Shut up, Peter. I know you're rolling.

I know you're doing everything. You can't just shut up for a minute. Peter, he said, verse 35, let us go over to the other side. So I know it feels like we're going under, but he said something. He said, let us go. So how can we go? If he said, let us go. He said something.

High five, everybody you can reach and say he said something. He said something. He said, I'm going over. He said something about the other side. I wish somebody would push me today. He said I'm going over and I'm not going under. He said something. Okay, okay.

All right. All right. All right. He said, let us go over to the other side. So what that means is we can't die from this water because we've got a word that is greater than the water. And I came to remind somebody, you've got a word that can walk on water. So take your notes on the boat and everything that God spoke to you, everything that God got. I see these kids writing right now, writing as fast as fast as.

They can't. You're how happy that makes me that you're writing this down at age 17, that you're writing this down at age 13. But don't just leave it in that notebook, baby. When it comes time to go back to school and you got to get back in the boat and everybody around you is telling you you can't live for God, you whip out your notes and say, Jesus is with me in this boat. Jesus is with me in this hallway.

Jesus is with me. All right. He said, we're going over. Somebody shout, over, over, over. I can't get over it. He said, we're going over to the other side. That means we cannot die in what we're going through because there is somewhere and there is something and there is somebody on the other side of this

that needs me to get through it. But that is not my message today. I wanted to tell you not only to take your notes on the boat, meaning to take what God taught you into your next challenge. I wanted to tell you to take your notes on the boat. That's deep. I'm going to write that down, and then I'm asking what that meant later, because it sounds like the same thing you just said twice.

You just said, take your notes on the boat, then you said, take your notes on the boat, that's right. Because there's something God's trying to teach you in the storm that he couldn't teach you on the shore. So it's good that you took notes on the shore. That's wonderful. But what does God want you to learn from this storm? What does God want you to see that he couldn't show you on the shore? What does God want to give you that he could not give you when you had your hands full? But now that they're empty, he can fill them.

What does God want to do in this season? You know, it's an amazing thing about Jesus. When he taught, he taught as one who had authority and not as one of their teachers. of the law. It was as if his listeners would hear him teach and say, I know that voice. I don't even know much about this Jesus yet, but something inside of me comes alive when he speaks. And when he speaks, it doesn't just sound like words. It sounds like life. It sounds like eternity. It sounds like truth. I know that voice. And when he spoke to his students, they He called him teacher, rabbi.

So he took him out on the boat, and they thought class was dismissed. They put their notebooks up. But then God gave them a gift called the wind. Write this down. The wind is a gift. The wind is a gift. Because the wind that's pushing against you that you think is going to destroy you, that wind is God's whiteboard. That's where he starts teaching you the greatest lessons. That's where

he starts to show you what he can really do. See, to apply the word against the wind is how faith is growing. Faith doesn't grow when you take notes. Faith grows when you take those notes and apply them against the wind. Faith grows when you feel anxious and say, nah, I'm still not going to get drunk. Faith comes when you feel freaked out and you go, nah, I'm still not going to cuss them out. Faith comes when they cut you off in traffic and you go to do this, but then something in you just pulls it back down and that wind starts blowing and that wind feels like it's against you, but that's for you. See, God sent you that bad driver because you were praying for self-control. So God gave you something that was out of your control.

God gave you a sassy kid so that you could learn how to have grace. God gave you a difficult relationship so that you could learn how to forgive like he forgave you. The wind is a gift, and the teacher is still teaching, and there are some things that he can say through a storm that he can't stay on the shore. So he sends you into the boat, and he says, I want you to watch this. Now, the disciples said to Jesus, are you able to handle it? just one more thing today. Can I give you just one more thing today? Just just one more thing today. I just want to show you one more thing. They said to him, teacher, don't you care? Put the verse up. Teacher, don't you care that we're about to drown? See, they must have Jesus confused with Jonah.

Jonah was the preacher who slept on the boat because he didn't care. Jesus was the preacher who slept on the boat because he was in control. And he knew, and he knows concerning your situation. I can speak at any time and stop it. I can speak at any time and make the wind lay down. I can say hush, and the wind will sit in my feet like a Boston Terrier. That wind will bow when I say the word. And so the disciples said to Jesus, don't you care if we drown?

And then verse 38 is very powerful because he got up sleeping in the stern and rebuked the wind and said to the waves, quiet. You missed it. I'll run it back. Verse 38. Take notes, everybody. Take notes. Tell your neighbor. Take notes.

This is powerful. Verse 38, the disciples said to the teacher. Verse 39, the teacher didn't talk back to the disciples. He spoke to the storm. So, if you've been. feel like God's not speaking to you. He might be speaking to the storm instead. I need you to give a shout of praise to the speaking God. The word made bless. He spoke to the storm instead. I got a friend who told me something funny, y'all. My friend said, I learned something very

interesting about my dad the other day. I said, what's that? He said, my dad is fluent in Spanish. I said, really? Is he from Mexico? Is he from the Dominican? Where is your dad from? He said, no, no. My dad has never spoken Spanish in my entire life.

And the other day, we were at a family dinner, and my dad picked up a phone call. And I've known him since as long as I've been alive. And I've never heard him say, groscius. I've never heard him say, denada. I've never heard him say even so much as, as, comostas. And he picked up a phone call, and he started speaking perfectly fluent Spanish to somebody on the other end of the line. He just started speaking Spanish. And I looked at my wife, and I said, this man speaks Spanish.

I looked at my wife. I've known him my whole life. But I never heard him speak that language, and he flew in something that I've never even heard him speak. And I pointed in my dad, and I looked at my wife and said, this man speaks Spanish. I imagine around about verse 39. Peter looked at John and pointed to Jesus and said, this man speaks storm. Because we've heard him speak kingdom, but I never knew. He can speak storm.

You got a God who speaks storm. He said stop and it stops. Somebody say, my God speaks storm. Yeah. Jesus speaks storm. Jesus speaks storm. Jesus speaks fear. Jesus can tell fear, quiet, be still.

Jesus speaks depression. Jesus can tell depression. Let that young lady go. Jesus speaks suicide. He can tell a young person, you've got to live and not die. Jesus speaks. Storm. I never would have known he spoke storm if he didn't send me into a storm.

So what does he want to show you in the storm that he couldn't show you on the shore? That's what you need to be asking right now. And take your notes, if the wind calmed down when Jesus told it to. I should too. What's that? He said, he said, let's go to the other side. Oh, he said other side? We're good.

He said over to the other side? We're good. He said, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law, the Spirit of Life set me free from the law of sin and death. Oh, I'm good. He said, if I confess my sins, he'll be faithful in justice to forgive me my sins and cleanse me from all unrighteousness. He said that.

I'm good. We'll just keep rowing until we get to the other side. Jesus doesn't talk about destinations. He doesn't deliver you to. And by the way, he didn't leave the boat. He just went into the stern, the deep part, the deep part. You don't let the word go deep enough. You keep waiting for an explanation.

What if he wants to give you a demonstration instead? Some things we're not going to understand. But he didn't turn to the disciples. Now the reason I let you go through this storm, the reason I let them leave you and the reason you're going through this pain and the reason no, no, no, no. He's not going to talk to you about this one. He's going to talk to the storm. Because he's Lord of the storm. When Jesus spoke to his disciples, they heard him.

But you know, it's an interesting thing. When we go through storms, when we get on the boat and we find the feet of Jesus, when he spoke to the students, they called him teacher. When he spoke to the storm, they called him Lord. That's what he's trying to show you in this season of your life, that he's Lord, even of the storm. So, Peter picks up his notebook after they make it to the other side. And oh, by the way, when they got to the other side in Mark chapter 5, verse 1, you know how you can know that they're not going to die in Mark 4? Because there's a Mark 5 in your Bible.

You have to be watching a new show in the first episode, it looks like the main character is. going to die. They're not going to die. They're on the preview for season six. Jesus is on the preview for Resurrection Sunday, so he's not going to stay down, and you're not going to drown, and you're not going to die, and you are going to make it because he's on the boat. Take your notes on the boat. Watch what Jesus does when, verse 1, Mark chapter 5, when they got across the lake to the region of the garrisons. Next verse, please. He got out of the boat and a man with an impure spirit came from the tombs to meet him. This man was so possessed and so infested with demon influence that nothing could hold him down, not even chains,

and he lived among the tombs. And when he saw Jesus coming out of the boat, Jesus said, come out of him. And guess what? Just like the disciples, just like the wind, the demons knew that voice came out of the man. And now I realize why Jesus was sleeping on the boat because he had an assignment on the other side. So you let God handle the part that you can't handle. And somewhere in your notes, Peter, cross out the part. You know, Peter wrote down, today's date. What's today's date? August 2nd, 2026, Sea of Galilee, on the shore. And then he wrote the name of the speaker, you know how you do when you take notes, you put the topic, the kingdom of God, the date, and the speaker. And maybe opposite side speaker, he put the teacher. But after he saw how that

storm bowed down to Jesus' feet, I got to think he picked up his elevation pin and crossed out teacher, because when I heard what he said on the shore, I called him teacher. But when I saw what he did in the storm. Thank you for joining us. Special thanks to those. of you who give generously to this ministry is because of you that this ministry is possible. You can click the link in the description to give now or visit elevationchurch.org slash podcast for more information. And if you enjoyed the podcast, you can subscribe, you can share it with your friends. You can click the share button.

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