May 17th, 2020 – In today’s scripture, we see the popularity of Jesus has drawn such a crowd desiring to be near him, He finally had to order his disciples to get in their boat to take Him to the other side of the sea.   We know that awaiting Christ on the other side of the water was a demon possessed men.   More work to do.   By this point, we are beginning to see that Jesus gave of himself so often, his humanness surfaces as a sense of weariness becomes apparent.   His response to the scribe seems to indicate this and He uses the opportunity to illustrate the cost of discipleship.   Then, as a storm raged during the trip across the sea,while Jesus attempted to a few moments of sleep, he still had to tend to the fear of those on the boat.   As Pastor Jonathan points out, becoming a disciple of Jesus is not always easy.   That there are times that following Jesus may actually be more than just a nightly prayer or attending Sunday morning worship.    There may be times Christ is calling us to do more.   As Pastor Jonathan asks, is this when we let distractions pull us away from following Christ more fully?    Does work, school, and other activities become an excuse for not getting into the boat and following Christ, no matter what awaits you?

Matthew 8:18-27