Get Your Feet Wet

I felt from my early prayer time this morning that God wanted to do something special in this service today. I know we lower a number, it's vacation time, people are traveling, we don't fault them, we want them to go enjoy. We know we have some that left for camps today, but I feel, I feel this word today strong in my spirit. You make your way to your seats.

Matthew chapter 14, it's a very familiar passage of scripture, very familiar story, says this in verse number 22. Immediately Jesus made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side while he sent the multitudes away. And when he had sent the multitudes away, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. Now when evening came, he was alone there, but the boat was now in the middle of the sea, tossed by the waves, for the wind was contrary. Now in the fourth watch of the night, Jesus went to them walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled.

I want you to notice that they were not troubled before this, were not upset about being in the storm. These were seasoned fishermen. We have no indication in this story that there was any problem until they seen Jesus. When the disciples saw him walking, they were troubled, saying, it is a ghost, and they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, be of good cheer, it is I, do not be afraid. Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water. So he said, come. And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid, and beginning to sink, he cried out, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, oh ye of little faith, why did you doubt? And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased.

For a little while this Sunday, I want to preach simply, get your feet wet. Get your feet wet. You know, I've lived long enough to know that making progress in life is not an exact science. Progress for me could be an adventure, it could be an event, but for you it may be something different. For some reason I've been reflecting back in my own personal walk with God, and then where we are as a church, and I stand very humbled by what God has done in our lives.

There were times when we did not have what we have today. Going back in our church history, there in 1957 we started with just a tent on the corner of Church and Broad Street in downtown Murfreesboro, eventually making way that we bought property over on Spring Street, where we spent a number of years there, grow in the church. That's when I arrived, started attending about 1981, when my parents joined the church, been a part of that church history from 81 until now.

I remember well when God began to bless us in that little small building, and it became packed out, and God was moving and doing miraculous things. I remember how hot it would get, we packed in there, and we would take turns standing on the little side porch because the breakers would flip, because we were trying to pull so much power through, and we would sit there and turn the breakers back on to keep the air conditioner going. I remembered when we would have days like today, when it would rain like you and I just experienced a few minutes ago, the basement would flood, and we would have to get mops out in buckets and mop the water up, and we would keep having church, and God continued to bless.

He blessed us with this piece of property that we were on, and we moved over here in 1996, started having church in the chapel building over there, and God continued to move. We built the building behind it, God continued to move, and then here we are today, 2021, standing in this beautiful facility, because God has been good and faithful to us as a church. There were times along this journey where the men who were leading the congregation felt like failures, but I'm here to realize that it was never really a failure unless they gave up. We're still here, and God is still moving. I stand amazed at where God has brought us to. When I think about how we got here, it simply overwhelms me.

I stand here because someone dared to believe God. I stand here because someone dared to believe God, because someone believed that God's desire was to have an apostolic church in this town. We stand here because our bishop believed that God called us to this piece of property, and we are here because there was somebody who dared to believe in God. You sit here in this room today, and you set in a dream that was in my head as God began to work in me, the vision for this building here. I don't say that in a bragging way. I say it's simply from the standpoint of, I dared to trust in God. There were times along the way when I did feel like a failure. There were times along the way when I had to listen to the critics.

Tell me that I was doing something that was too big. I heard them, yes, I had critics telling me that we were spending too much money, that we were doing things wrong, that we were, we're going way beyond the bounds of what God wanted to do. I had to listen to that. There were times, in a, in confessing here, that I wondered myself if, if I just bit off more than we could chew. Was I, was I taking us into an area that, that wasn't right? But each time I had confirmation that this was not me, this was God that was calling us, and I wanted to listen, even so much as to have random men, uh, because of the time several years ago, come up behind me. I didn't know who they were, but they put, three different men at three different times of course that conference, came up to me, put their hands on me, prayed for me, and confirmed, as I was struggling with the amount of money we were going to have to spend, and they told me, just trust God. I stand humble today by those things.

Here's what I know, and I feel like we have lived this as a church, that is simply this: our church has always had the mindset of, we're never going to stay in the boat if Jesus is out in the water. We're never going to stay in the boat if Jesus is out in the water. Another way they say that is, you're never going to walk on the water unless you're willing to get out of the boat. Or maybe a better way to put it today, you cannot experience the supernatural power of God and stay in a natural environment. You cannot experience the supernatural power of God and stay in a natural environment. And while I'm confessing, there were sometimes when I launched out of the boat that I did some sinking. There were some times in the circumstances that we were facing, when I got out there, I felt myself going down. Things were not going according to the plan that I had in my mind. But if you desire to experience things you have never experienced before, you cannot stay in the confines of the boat. There are times you have to be willing to take a chance on God, even if you can't see how it's going to work out. You have to trust that God says, get out of the boat, then throw your legs across the side and see if you're able to stand.

Let me tell you a truth: God operates in the realm of faith. Faith gets his attention, not stupidity, but faith. Faith stops him in his tracks. In fact, the only accounts in the Gospel where Jesus was ever stopped from doing what he was going to do is when someone had great faith, and he literally would turn around and say, it's because of your faith. I was going to keep walking, I was going to keep moving, I was going to keep going down the road that I was walking, but it was your faith that made me stop. And I'm here today hopefully igniting someone's faith in this place, that he's still a God that works miracles. He's still a God that does the miraculous. He's still a God who desires to do great things, if we're willing to step outside of the comfort zone of normal, and willing to trust that God is still wanting to do something great in our lives.

Now I know much has been said about Peter when he got out of the boat, that he sank, but that is not what the Word of God says. It says he began to sink. I've discovered this about God: when I'm following him and trusting him, as he's leading me into a walk of faith, there are times when I will begin to sink, but he never lets me go under. He never lets me go under. I have never seen anyone go completely under that as a person walking in faith. Now I've seen people make poor choices, I've seen people make poor decisions, and their choices and their decision caused them to drown, but I've never seen the righteous forsaken. I have never seen the righteous forsaken. I've seen some times when they went down, and they were about neck level in the water, but God never let them go completely under, because there's something about being obedient and operating in faith, that God will not let you go all the way down.

I have felt that sinking feeling in my life, but I'll have to admit to you this, that when I was being obedient to following where he was leading me, taking that step of faith, even in sinking, he was close to me. He was close to me. Peter was sinking outside the boat, but Jesus was outside the boat. I've been close to God, but that requires me to use my faith, and sometimes I have to go to where he is, and sometimes that takes me outside my comfort zone. Oh, we love Calvary, we love the empty tomb, but we're not always willing to go where Jesus is, because we see the cost he had to pay. But I'm here to tell you, there are some people who are willing to take a chance on God. There's some Peters in this room who say, Lord, if that's you out there, then I'm just asking, can I come where you are? Oh, is there anybody?

Willing today to exercise a little bit of faith? Is there any Peter still left in the world who says, God, wherever you are, whether you're in the boat or out of the boat, I just want to be where you're at? There are times in the scripture where God will refer to himself as an eagle. Now I don't know how many of you know this, but one of the things that an eagle will do to its young is push them out of the nest. When an eagle builds a nest, it goes and finds sticks and thorns and thistles, and it makes the bottom structure and framework of this big elaborate, if you've ever seen, there's so many of these video cameras now where they watch, you know, the eagles being hatched and everything. They, they go to great length to build a big sturdy heavy nest, and then before they complete it all, they will find things that are softer, even pulling their under feathers out of their own body to line the nest, so that the eaglets have a soft place when they hatch out, that they can be born.

For a while the mama eagle is taking care of those eaglets and making sure that they have everything there, and they're comfortable and everything is just right. Sometimes in our beginning walks with God, he takes care of a lot of stuff for us, as we are starting the process of learning that we can depend on him in our life, that he's able to provide for us, or our daily bread, and we're able to depend on him, and he makes things easy and comfortable. And he, he is a, he is a waymaker, he is Jehovah Gyra, he is all these things. And, and when we first start that beginning relationship with him, he begins to reveal himself in all these wonderful and beautiful ways, and it doesn't take a whole lot of faith to trust, because things are just being done for us.

But much like that mama ego, he doesn't leave us in a place of comfort, for we will never become what we are truly intended to be as long as we're staying in the confines of comfort of the nest. So comes a point that that mama eagle knows that that eagle is never going to fully develop into what it is supposed to be if she doesn't get it out of the nest, so it'll start stirring up the nest. The Bible talks about this in Deuteronomy 32: as an eagle stirs up its nest, hovers over its young, spreading out its wings, taking them up, carrying them on its wings.

There comes a time when the eagles watch the eaglets, and they has to go in and pull all the feathers out, and pull them, pull the comforting things out of it. There's been times in our life where God will begin to stir up the nest we're living in, because we've become very complacent and very comfortable with our walk with him, and we're not stretching our faith as it should be. And God comes in and begins to stir some things up, where we don't sleep as good as we're supposed to sleep, and, and, and things are not as good as they once were, and we begin to think, God, what is going on, have I done something wrong? No, the problem is, is God's getting ready to take you on a new high.

Now mama eagles, she'll, she'll get all the stuff, and the baby's all certain uncomfortable, they kind of get up and they begin to move, and they get over close to the edge. When they get to the edge, all of a sudden mama goes, and you can YouTube some of these videos, and you see that little eagle, it gets kicked off the side, and it begins to fall. But here's the truth: that eaglet can never fall faster than that mama can fly, because as it's on its way down, it's trying to do its best, and it's trying to get its wings going. It's looking all discombobulated and doesn't know what's going on, and panic sitting in. All of a sudden mama swoops in underneath it, it lands on mama's back, and mama takes it up to a height that's never been before, and shows us things that's never seen. It never would have experienced that sitting in the nest.

I'm going to tell you right now, Peter got out of the boat, and for a little while he's walking on the water, everything's good. But he began to look around and see that the wind was blowing and the waves were crashing in. All of a sudden he became afraid, and he sank in. But I'm going to tell you this truth: you cannot sink faster than the Lord's hand can grab you. Oh, I'm trying to speak some faith into somebody's life right now. You're never, ever going to become what God intends for you to become as long as you're sitting on that comfortable pew in the middle of the boat. But if you're willing to throw your leg across the side and meet the Lord out in the middle of the water, there may come a moment you'll go down a little bit, but he'll never let you go all the way down. His hand is faster than you can sink. Oh, we're not building the kingdom of men around here, but we're building the kingdom of God, and in doing that we're going to have to get out of the boat more often. We're going to have to get out of the boat more often. I'm convinced that when life draws close to an end, it will be the sinking moments that we will remember and relish, and it'll be the moments we stay in the boat that we'll regret, and they will haunt us. Peter was the only one who was willing to get close enough to Jesus that when he began to sink, that Jesus reached out and grabbed him. And I feel like that's what's wrong with some of you. You're living too far away from God in your life. You're playing it safe, and if you do so, you'll drift away in a comfortable place where God is more than arm's length away from you.

I want him to be able to grab me in my life. I want to be able to be close to him, so I can keep my eyes on him and see him. And in doing so, sometimes he's going to lead me into some places that are a little bit dangerous. You're going to lead me to some places that's going to make me afraid sometimes, and I'll get a little bit scared, but that's okay. He is there. Don't lose sight of the fact that he is there. That was Peter's problem: he took his eyes off Jesus and started looking at the storm of life, and began to sink a little bit. But Jesus hadn't changed locations. He was still right where he always had been, in the middle of walking on the water. And the moment Peter cried out, Jesus was able to grab him and pull them back up.

Oh, why don't you trust God more than you have? God has performed miraculous works inside of your life time and time again. There are testimonies sitting on these pews here today of what God has done to your life over and over again. But for some of you, those stories have been too long gone. It's been too long since God has done a miraculous work, and the reason is, you become comfortable sitting in the boat of life. When's the last time that you took a chance on God? Oh, Pastor Kevin, I'm, I'm living a good life, and, and I'm obedient, I follow God's scriptures, and I'm here and there, and I'm doing all this stuff, and, and I don't have to do all those things anymore.

I don't see that when I read the scripture. I don't see that when I read the scripture. I see people of faith who was constantly being challenged by God, that he was leading them into areas time and time again outside their comfort zone. But they had an awareness that wherever God leads me, he's going to be right there with me. They were tired of setting, doing things a status quo for thousands of years. It didn't do them any good. All it did was create a religion that caused there to be a division between God and them. But Jesus shows up and says, the kingdom of heaven is at hand. It is right here. It is where you are. It is where you are living in this moment. And I wonder, are you really aware of the fact that God is wanting to do miraculous stuff in your life every day? Not just on Sundays, not just on Wednesdays, not just once a year, but every day, your life is, desires to walk with you, and to take you into new areas and new heights and new depths, and to do, do new things with you. But you're never going to experience those things if you're always just playing it safe.

See, here's what I think we forget, and that is this: God never does the same thing the same way twice. He never does the same thing the same way twice. Every miracle in the scriptures, he opened blinded eyes multiple times, we never did it the same way. Do you know why? Because we would memorize the pattern. Do you know why? Because we're lazy. And guess who knows we're lazy? He does. See, he'll come into your life and do a great mighty work, and sometimes we'll face a very similar circumstance in our life as we faced a few years ago, and we tend to approach it the exact same way. And then when it doesn't work out for us, we're like, God, what's going on? I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing. I'm praying, I'm paying my tithes, I'm showing up at church, but it seems like I'm still dealing with this thing. And God's saying, I'm wanting to grow your faith. Now last time I did it, your faith wasn't so strong, so I did some things for you. But this time I want to take you a little further in your walk, so we're going to do it different.

And then we get frustrated, and we get mad, and we say that God doesn't care, and that God doesn't love us, and he's not, he's not showing up when he's supposed to, even though I'm doing everything that I'm supposed to be doing. But the truth is, you're still sitting in that boat. And I'm not going to do any of that foolish stuff. I'm not going to get down that alter area and shout out. God touched me right here wearing my seat in 1982. He filled me right here in this seat. I don't have to get out of this seat, because that's what God did. And where you at, you're sitting.

There in that boat. In the meanwhile, there's some Peters who are jumping out, and God's doing some work in their life. Oh, they may look foolish for a little bit, but I guarantee, if you went back and asked those disciples, hey, do you have any regret? Yeah, I regret the fact that Peter was the one that got to walk on the water, and all I did was get to watch it. I was quiet now. You criticize Peter all you want, but at least he had the guts to get out of the boat. At least he had enough smarts to say, Lord, if it's you, bid me to go where you are, because I know wherever you are, I'll be safe. Don't want to go out there? Well, is God out there? Well, then why wouldn't you go where he is? I don't care how bad it looks, if the one who can calm the seas and stop the wind is out there in the, in the turbulent seas and the great wind, hey, you got a good chance it's going to be calm at some point. Or just maybe you'll go on the greatest ride in your life. You may have a testimony that you'll be telling your grandkids about. But I tell you what, when one of them disciples bragging about staying in that boat, no, no, no, no, no. But it was Peter. I know he gets in trouble, he shoots his mouth off. I got a lot that I identify with Peter. There's been plenty of times I jumped out there and said, oh no, uh oh, Lord, I need you.

I believe that God has positioned you and I, position this church, in a supernatural way to reap an end-time harvest. I don't believe we even fully understand what it is that he has done for us, and what he has put together for you and I. I don't want to miss ones. I don't want to miss those once in a lifetime opportunities. I don't want to miss him. This only one time, one time that they get to walk on water, once. All 12 of them could have done it. All 12 of them were in the same situation, but it was only Peter who said, God, if it's you, I want to be where you are. Well, come on out, Peter. 11 more just sit and watch the show. I don't want to watch the show. I don't want to sit on the sidelines. I don't want to just say how we had a nice building, and it was comfortable, and we had good church and good music. No, no, no. I want to be a part of life-changing things. I want to be a part of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities. I want to know that I was there.

Why would you miss a once in a lifetime chance just because you're a little bit afraid? Should God tear you? I want to get to the end of my ministry, and I don't want to have to sit back and wonder what we could have done as a church if we've been willing to get out in the water. I want us to get so desperate for God, because desperate people do daring things. I don't need any more regrets in my life. I got a lifetime of them already. I don't want any more. I don't want any more ministry regrets. I'm looking for someone to join me. They're willing to get their feet wet. I want somebody to come alongside me and say, Pastor, I'd rather sing than sit. I'd rather sink than set. Oh, if we're going to go down one way the other, I'll get out in the middle of the water, we'll go down that way, instead of me clinging to the side of this boat. I don't want to play it safe, God. I want to trust in you more than it ever has.

I believe 2020 happened for a reason. That word, I don't mention it, happened for a reason. I believe it weeded out those that are not serious about God. I believe it shored up those of us who, who decided to stick it out. There's some folks, guys, we're, we're down a hundred or better from where we were before Copenhagen. We may not ever get that hundred back, but I believe God was weeding out the ones who didn't really want to be here anyway. He's saying he doesn't love people. No, he loves people, but I also believe he was trimming some fat, so we can get ready to do what he wants us to do.

Well, I, I don't want to play patty cake for Jesus. This isn't about just having a great meeting. This is not about the kingdom of Kevin. This is about the kingdom of God. This is about real things that are happening in the real world. It's time for us to get radical with our faith. It's time for us to get radical in our approach. It's time for us to stop setting on the sidelines, just being content with the fact that things are going along well. I want God to come in and wreck the nest that we're sitting in, and pull out everything that's comfortable. I want somebody to get a hold of the fact that when we pray, and we get down serious with God, he'll do some serious things in our life. We shouldn't be having to beg people to sign up for the prayer chain. You should be running at an opportunity to unite.

Together in prayer, because God's going to do great and wonderful and miraculous things through this church in this city. It's going to take some folks that are willing to get their feet wet, to step out on faith like never before, and commit ourselves to being obedient no matter what it cost us. This is something I've learned about God: conventional wisdom does not always work in God's kingdom. Conventional wisdom does not always work in God's kingdom. Now that struggles for people like me, because I like to figure things out, and I'm pretty good at it. I'm a problem solver. Give me a problem, give me a few minutes, I'll think of a few reasons, I'll think of a few ways not to do it, but eventually I'll figure out how it can be done. But conventional wisdom doesn't always work in God kingdom.

Ask Naaman about that. Then he came to the prophet Elisha because he needed to be healed. Second Kings five and one says, name and, commander of the army, king of Syria, was a great man. Check, with his master, and high favor, because by him the Lord had given him victory in Syria. Check, he's victorious, he is a mighty man of valor. Check, but he was a leper. Uh-oh, uh-oh. Look at your neighbor and say, uh-oh. He had a whole lot going, but he was a leper. Damon had a servant girl that tells him about Elisha, and Elijah has the ability to heal him if Naaman will go. So Naaman does. He goes to the king, gets permission, sends letters, shows up with a big caravan, and, and here he is, he's, he's ready to get this going by the way he thinks it ought to go, by human logic, by human reason.

Elisha doesn't even go the door. He sends a servant out to him, says, look, just tell him to go dip in the Jordan River. Now here's one thing you need to know: he had to cross the Jordan River to get there. It wasn't that he was unfamiliar with the Jordan. He crossed to Jordan to get there. And in his mind, he gets mad. Oh, he gets mad. You should read the story. He's mad about it, he's puffed up. Now you and I would think, hey, dude, you're a leper, your fingers are falling off. I would, I would think, whatever it took, you know, if you want me to take a skunk and rub it on my head, if it's going to make the leprosy go away, I'm in. But he didn't. He crossed the Jordan River, and in his pride, he said, are there not better rivers back at my house? That Jordan's nasty. There's stuff floating in there, roadkill floating down through there. Why, there are better rivers. I mean, he's about to lose the whole thing. He's about to lose his miracle, when the servants finally said, hang on, time out. If he'd ask you to go conquer some great thing, or kill something, you'd have been more than willing. He just simply said, go dip in the river. I don't think this is a hard thing.

Now I believe, if we have the ability when we get to heaven, that you walk up the name and say, name and, did you regret going down the Jordan River, that he's going to be like, it was nasty. No, no, no, I think he's still going to be praising God that God cleansed him, and his skin was like baby skin when he came out. You, you can't approach God with conventional wisdom. It doesn't work. Naaman had to get his feet wet, but not wet where he wanted, wet where God wanted. There are some things that you will never get over, and never get through, until you're willing to get your feet wet. You're okay.

When Israel was brought out of the Egyptian bondage, Moses led them out. When they got to the Red Sea in Exodus chapter 14, the armies pursuing them, mountains on each side, the red season from them, and all Moses did was raise the staff and the water parted. Exodus 14, let me read it for you. Then the Lord said to Moses, why are you crying out to me? Tell the people to get moving. Pick up your staff and raise your hand over the sea. Divide the water so the Israelites can walk through the middle of the sea on the dry ground. And they did. We've all heard that. Preacher's been around church anytime, it was a wonderful miracle, it was amazing.

Now remember, this is the beginning of their relationship with God. So where we at? The beginning of their relationship with God. All right, it's just started. God showed up and he said, I've heard you crying. Exodus 4, the burning bush talks to Moses, says, my people, I hear him, I want you to go. Moses has a moment, he's stuttering, he has to get talked into it. He goes, Aaron goes with him, there's the plagues. We know how it all goes, right? And God is doing what God is proving himself. There was no requirements, right? He gave him some instructions, especially concerning the Passover, but, but for the most part, there was hardly anything they really had to do. God just took care of it all. It wasn't until he got him out there in Mount Sinai that he says, hey, hey, have I proven myself to you? Did you see what I was able to do? Now I would love to be your.

God, and, and I want you to be my people, so here's some things I would like for you to do. Y'all following me? I know that's the Kevin's version, it's a little shorter, but that's what goes on. So when they come up to the Red Sea, they're coming out of Egypt. God says, look, look, I'll take care of you. I know you're a little nervous, the army's behind you, you're stuck between the proverbial rock and hard spot, mountain on each side, Red Seas in front of you, armies behind you. Look, this, oh this, Moses, raise your staff. Wouldn't it have been cool? It had been cool, you know, it had been cool, seen that wall of water on each side. I can see them walking by, they're going, look at this, this is great. You know, they got all that stuff from their Egyptian neighbors, so they're like, God is cool. They get on the other side, Moses puts his staff down, army is coming, you can see them, they're like, well, they got their things. Here comes the army. Miriam grabs the tambourine, they sing a song. Then they bury that tambourine. There's a whole sermon in that. They go out now.

Hearing my point for saying all that was simply this: God showed them that he could be faithful. He showed them that, I'll take care of you. It was the beginning's walk. It was like, I was looking like this, come on, just come on. Destroy, he just encouraged them, come on, and they're just following, and they go through. God, he does all the stuff. Now why am I bringing this up? Because the life with God is a journey. It's a walk with God. And along the way, God is going to grow you and I, and with each new day, his desires for you and I to grow in our trust in him, our faith should be stronger. But in order for that to happen, we must be about the business of growth in our faith.

Joshua chapter 3. 40 years they've wandered around because they, they struggle to believe God, when God just simply said, I want you to go, look what I'm going to give you. And they went there looking, came back and said, hey, there's giants. God said, yeah, I didn't say there wasn't going to be giants, I just said, I'm going to give it to you. But we can't do that, we're grasshoppers. God says, well, I gotta work a little that out of you. So he wandered him around for 40 years, working that stuff out. But he had the promise, it was their promise. Y'all with me?

So Moses finally dies off, after giving him a lot of instructions. The entire book of Deuteronomy is Moses revisiting everything they were supposed to do, the beginning. He goes, the whole book is this, it's a repeat, and Moses doesn't even get to go. Joshua's there. God says, I want you to go in, I want you to pay attention to this, this is good stuff. Joshua chapter three, verse number seven. Then Lord tells Joshua, today I will begin to make you a great leader in the house, because he's brand new, right? This is his first stint. I'll make you lead in the eyes of Israel. They will know that I am with you, just like I was in Moses. Verse 8, give this command to the priests who carry the Ark of the Covenant: when you reach the banks of the Jordan River, take a few steps into the river and stop. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Now last time we did this, God, we just have to raise a stick up, and the water's parted, and we got on a dry ground. What, what, I got to get in the water? But God said, what, get on out in there a little bit and stop. You miss what's going on, because God's saying, I know what I did before, but this is different. You didn't know much about me then, but I think I've proven myself to you. I just want to see, are you still trusting me? So when you come up to the river this time, I want you to get out in it a little bit. Well, I don't know that I like that, God. Why can't we stand? Because it wasn't just normal, but the river was flowing out of its banks. This wasn't a creek, this was a mighty rushing river. And God says, I want you to get out in it a little bit. I'm going to take you to your promise. Well, God, I don't know how this is going to happen, because if you don't part it, I mean, you did it, I know you did it in the Red Sea, and you parted up, we went down the walls of water. But God, you're telling me I got to get in the water. He wants to know, do you trust him? If you want the promise God has for you, you need to be willing to get your feet wet.

Verse 13, the priest will carry the Ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth. As soon as their feet touch the water, the flow of the water will be cut off upstream, and the river will stand up like a wall. Now do you know what they seen when they stepped in the water? Do you know what they seem, there they are, and he said, all right, we got to get out of there.

Do you know, so they remember, it's flowing, this isn't easy. They get out there and they say, okay, we're out here, water's running, we stopped, and it just keeps flowing by. All right, God, we're in, we're in. Do you know what they seen when they got in? Nothing. Nothing changed. I'm speaking to somebody right now, because you always want God to do something instantaneous, and God is desiring to grow you further. Yes, he's worked in your life. Yes, he's part of the Red Sea. Yes, he's provided manna from heaven. He's done all these things to prove himself. He has proved himself to you. I'm speaking to somebody right now. But now you're standing in the middle of the water, and you're like, God, I'm still trying to be obedient, but this stuff's running about. Where are you at? When the Word of God says that it was some 20 miles up the river.

Look, verse 15, it was a harvest season, and the Jordan was overflowing its banks. But as soon as the feet of the priest who were carrying the Ark touched the water at the river's edge, the water above that point beginning backed up a great distance away at the town called Adam. 20 miles up the river, God stuck his hand in the water. He told them, I just want you to get out in the middle of the water. Well, I gotta get in the mud, when I know you're a God who can park the water. I am a God who can park the water, but I want you to get in the water. I want to know, are you willing to be obedient? I want to know, are you willing to get your feet wet? I want to know, are you only serving me because I'm a God who instantly does something? Are you willing to trust that I might know better than you? God, I'm in the middle of the water, but there's still water all around me. There's still logs floating by, and stuff's going on. I was obedient, I was obedient, I'm still standing here, but the waters around me. By most estimates, it took some two hours before the water started to recede. For two hours they had to stand out there and the muck in the mire, as the water rolled by. But they had a word from God that said, I want you to step out in the middle, because I'm taking you to where your promise is. But the only way you're going to get to where your promise is, is you got to get out in the middle of that river. You got to be willing to get your feet wet. Oh, and what you don't understand is, when they were washing through that, some 40 years of frustrations and failures was being washed away.

They stepped out into a mighty russian river, overflowing its banks, and in doing so, it appeared on the surface and nothing happened. But 20 miles upstream, God was working. They were looking silly, standing out there in the middle of that muddy water, but they stood still, and they obeyed. And because of that, they entered into their promise. They made it because they were willing to get their feet wet.

And I'm closing right now. Musicians can come. I'm closing because I want to know if there's anybody here who's willing to get their feet wet. Is there anybody in here who's maybe looking, where it'd be okay for you to look a little bit silly? Now look, here's the deal: you can sit on your comfortable pew, and you can just do what you've been doing, and be happy and blessed, everything be okay. But I just feel like God has positioned us for great. Listen, I am sick of having good church. I'm ready to start having some great church. And I'm wondering, is there anybody willing to get out in the water? Is there anybody willing to stand with their pastor and wait out in the middle of the stuff, and maybe we don't see anything happen right off the bat, but I got a word from God that says, if you're willing to get your feet wet, I'll take you into that promise I told you about a long time ago. Is there anybody willing? Oh, is there anybody willing to get their feet wet today? Because I feel like God has troubled the waters right now, himalayan. I'm looking for some folks to say, Pastor, I'm willing to look foolish with you. Pastor, I'm going to be in that prayer chain. I'm going to start Bible studies. I'm going to invite new people. I'm going to fast, even though you haven't called me to fast. Oh, is there anybody willing to stand with me in a rushing river, until we can take our promise together? Oh yes, yes, Jesus. Church's prayer time. I don't know what you have need of in your life, but I'd wade into the water right now. I'd have faith enough to throw my hands up and say, God, I am here, I am here. Oh, I gotta have you, Jesus. I gotta have you, Jesus.