Christian worship, sermons, prayer and Bible study
7 February Second Sunday before Lent
The fishing boats on Lake Galilee in Jesus' day didn't have keels. They were relatively flat-bottomed boats which could be easily pulled up on the beach to unload and used in the shallows along the shore. Great for flexibility, not good for stability in rough weather! The Sea of Galilee is a relatively small body of water about thirteen miles long and seven miles wide and prone to storms. If you were stuck in the middle of the lake in bad weather it was a terrifying situation to be in. Not surprisingly then, the disciples in the boat are petrified when one of these storms breaks upon them, fearing the worst. Only the strongest swimmer would ever be likely make it to the shore and even that was extremely unlikely from the middle of the lake. In a panic they wake Jesus, who in turn calms the storm, using the same tone and phrases as a teacher might use to get an unruly class under control. Different terrors haunt each one of us. The truth contained in the gospel passage is designed to calm all our fears and enable us to have inner peace. God Himself, through Jesus, invites our spirits to relax and let Him take care of the events that are raging beyond our control.
Read more in this week's Bible Notes
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Create within us, O God,
a longing to obey your commandments
and
a thankfulness for all your mercies.
Let us honour you in the thoughts of our hearts,
let us glorify you in the words we speak
and let us magnify you in the things that we do;
through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen
John Wesley (1703-1791)
Following requests we are pleased to restore the link to the blog of Rev Ross Royden from Hong Kong. We are looking forward to Ross doing a bit more blogging now he is back from his holidays!